


To Follow the Stars

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, M/M, Sleeping Beauty AU, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27914362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Armitage is the bastard son of the king of Arkanis, a son he only had in order to use him in a spell. When that doesn't work, he curses Armitage to fall into a deep sleep on his 18th birthday, only to be woken be the kiss of his love.Kylo Ren is given an assignment by his master: find and kill the lost prince of Arkanis. But it's not as easy of a job as it seems.
Relationships: Armitage Hux's Mother/Maratelle Hux, Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 29
Kudos: 56
Collections: Kylux Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I worked with ArsTyrannus ([twitter](https://twitter.com/ArsTyrannus)/[tumblr](https://arstyrannus.tumblr.com/)) who created amazing art for this fic! And thanks to [Francis](https://darthtenrec.tumblr.com) for betaing!

The wind howled outside, but little Armitage seemed unbothered by the noise as his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep. At first, Anthea had not liked the idea of having her king’s child, but now that she held the boy in her arms, she couldn’t be happier. Armitage was the most precious thing and Anthea loved him more than anything.

Anthea placed Armitage in his bassinet and covered him with a blanket. Both the bassinet and blanket had been given to her by the rest of the kitchen staff, as Brendol hadn’t seen fit to provide anything for his child. Well, he had given Anthea and Armitage a slightly nicer room that they had all to themselves. She knew she couldn’t expect anything more from a man like Brendol Hux.

With Armitage settled down — hopefully for at least the next few hours — Anthea prepared to head back to the kitchen and finish up her work. She had just put her shoes back on when the door flew open. Anthea was about to chew out the person who burst through the door, but once she saw who it was, she bowed her head instead.

“Can I help you, my lord?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb Armitage.

“The boy is needed. Bring him.” Brendol hardly glanced at the child. That was nothing new — he’d barely acknowledged his existence. Anthea knew Armitage was only meant to be Brendol’s heir in the event his wife never conceived. He would never truly care for him.

Anthea, on the other hand, wanted Armitage to have the best possible life. If that meant she would have to defend him from his father, then she would do it.

“He’s just fallen asleep and needs his rest.”

“I don’t care!” Brendol bellowed. “This is an urgent situation! Bring him to the throne room yourself or I will have someone else take him!”

Anthea had no chance to beg him to reconsider — Brendol stormed away, slamming the door on his way out. The noise was enough to wake Armitage and he started to cry. Anthea gathered him up quickly, shushing him and promising him that everything would be just fine. Armitage settled and Anthea’s first thought was to try to put him back to bed, but she knew that Brendol wasn’t lying. He would send someone else to get Armitage and who knew if they would be gentle with him.

Sighing, Anthea held the two-month-old infant close and walked out of her small room. She couldn’t even imagine what Brendol would need Armitage for at such a late hour, but if the king wanted him in the throne room, then that’s what he would get. As she followed Brendol, Anthea imagined that it might be a good thing. Perhaps Brendol was finally ready to name Armitage as his heir, the Prince of Arkanis.

As much as Anthea liked that idea, she also knew that it meant Armitage would be taken from her. The king would never let a kitchen maid raise the prince. Of course, it would give Armitage the best life, and Anthea would still get to see him. Maybe it wasn’t that terrible of an option.

Anthea was still imagining what Armitage’s life would be like as a prince as she walked into the throne room — he’d have the best clothes, he’d learn to ride a horse and wield a sword, and whenever he happened to be near the kitchens, Anthea would have a special treat for him. That vision was shattered as soon as she walked inside the grand chamber.

Brendol was there, along with his wife, Queen Maratelle, and his two advisors, Pryde and Brooks. Anthea didn’t know the latter well, but she always got a bad feeling about them. Had it just been them, Anthea wouldn’t have been so worried. The final member of the group was a creature from a nightmare.

He was tall and scarred, and in some places, it looked as if his face was melting away. She’d wanted to believe the man — if he could even be called a man — was only a tale told to frighten children, but he wore a gold robe and carried a tall staff with a black stone inset on the top, just as he did in the stories. The person before her could only be Snoke, the evil sorcerer of legends.

Anthea held Armitage closer to her, not wanting her son anywhere near that creature. She took a step back, but the door closed on its own behind her. 

“The bastard prince has arrived,” Snoke said. “And his mother. Bring him to me.”

Anthea hesitated, not wanting Armitage anywhere near that man or beast or whatever he was. She knew she couldn’t protect him against magic, but that didn’t mean she had to willingly hand him over to some creepy sorcerer. As she suspected, she had no choice in the matter because soon she was floating in the air, moving towards Snoke.

When her feet were back on the ground, Snoke reached out for Armitage. Anthea turned the baby away from him. It was useless, but she had to do what she could. Snoke tried to take Armitage from her and as soon as Snoke’s withered hands touched him, Armitage started to cry. Anthea refused to let go of him.

“Yes. This will do.” Snoke backed away from Armitage and looked to Brendol. “I can perform the ritual on the boy.”

“Very well,” Brendol said to Snoke before turning to Anthea. “Woman, give the boy to Snoke.”

“No!” Anthea shouted, stepping back from them. She didn’t know what they planned on doing, but she couldn’t let them take Armitage.

“Hand him over!” Brendol shouted, taking a step towards Anthea and Armitage. The boy was crying louder now, and all Anthea wanted to do was run. She wanted to leave the castle and keep going until she was out of Arkanis entirely. She’d find somewhere else to raise Armitage, away from Brendol, and away from Snoke.

“Hand him over!” Pryde had walked over to them without Anthea noticing and he grabbed ahold of Armitage, trying to pry him from Anthea’s arms.

“No!” Anthea screamed again. Without thinking, she brought her knee up, hitting Pryde in the gut. He staggered backward, but when he looked up, fury in his eyes, Anthea knew she had made a fatal mistake. Even if she had given birth to the king’s son, she was still nothing more than a kitchen maid. She would not get away with assaulting the king’s most trusted advisor.

“You stupid whore!” Pryde roared. He advanced towards her and Anthea glanced towards the door. It was too far, but she had to take the chance. She ran, and when she wasn’t immediately grabbed by Pryde or anyone else, she thought she just might make it. Then, she found herself completely unable to move, and the room filled with laughter.

Against her will, she turned back towards Snoke and the others. Pryde looked furious, but Snoke was laughing. Whether it was because he was in a good mood or just enjoying the idea of violence, Anthea couldn’t tell. 

“His mother’s spirit could make him quite the formidable thing,” Snoke mused. “At the very least, this child may be useful.”

“Useful?” Brendol spat. “He’s weak and what else could one expect from such a mother? The only use for him is being the sacrifice for your spell!”

“Sacrifice?” Anthea had known that there had to be a terrible reason for Snoke to be there, and that confirmed it. She would never let them do that to Armitage. They would have to kill her first.

“I’m afraid not,” Snoke said, ignoring Anthea.

“What do you mean?” Brendol demanded. “You said by sacrificing my child, you could make it possible for my queen to conceive a child of her own!”

Anthea couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had that been the only reason Brendol had wanted a child with her? As she thought about it, she realized it made perfect sense. Of course the king would have tricked her and never told her his true intentions. He didn’t care about her, and he certainly didn’t care about Armitage.

“I did say that, yes,” Snoke said, his attention turning to Anthea and Armitage. She tried to break free of whatever spell held her in place but was unable to do so.

“Get away from him!” she managed to spit out as Snoke approached her. She continued to struggle against the unseen force, hoping she might be able to be able to move just enough to push Snoke away.

“You see, Your Majesty, for the spell to work correctly, the sacrifice needs to be willing. For both parents. If the boy’s mother does not wish to offer him, I’m afraid the spell will only make your problems worse.”

“You promised me!” Brendol screamed. “You said you could give me an heir!”

“You do have an heir,” Snoke pointed out.

“That weak thing will never be my heir!” Brendol shouted. “You said you would kill him! I don’t want him!”

“A shame, isn’t it? Perhaps you can have another bastard that will make for a suitable sacrifice.”

Snoke made to leave and Anthea thought that maybe it was over. At least the immediate threat. She knew she couldn’t stay — Armitage needed to be as far away from Brendol as possible. Anthea didn’t move, hoping that maybe no one would notice her and she could slip away.

“No!” Brendol shouted, running after Snoke. Snoke turned towards him, and Brendol grabbed his staff. “I’ll do it myself then!”

Anthea turned away, trying to shield Armitage. She heard someone shouting — maybe many people shouting — and then the room was filled with a bright light. Anthea closed her eyes and when she opened them, she was on her knees with Armitage in her arms, still crying. She looked behind her and saw that Snoke had his staff back in his hand and Brendol was on the floor. Pryde and Brooks were by his side and even the queen had moved, standing between Anthea and Brendol.

“Is he all right?” Maratelle asked as she turned to Anthea.

“I…” Anthea couldn’t believe the queen was talking to her, and not only that, but she sounded genuinely concerned. It took her a moment to realize she needed to answer Maratelle’s question, but she never had a chance.

“You fool!” Snoke roared. “You have no idea what you’ve done!”

“I want him dead!” Brendol shouted back, pointing at Armitage.

“He’s a baby!” Maratelle yelled. “Your son! Why would you do this?”

“That child is not my son! You were supposed to provide me with an heir, but you couldn’t even do that! And you!” Brendol turned to Snoke. “You promised me that this would work!”

“I did no such thing!” Snoke’s voice grew even louder, and Brendol fell silent. “Now, let’s see exactly what you’ve done. Perhaps you’ve cast a spell to make it so he never stops crying.” Snoke walked over to Anthea and Armitage. He waved his staff over them and Armitage fell silent.

“That’s better,” Snoke said, then the black stone at the top of his staff started to glow. Anthea looked at Armitage, who seemed perfectly fine and not at all bothered by whatever Snoke was doing. The glow suddenly stopped and Snoke stepped away from them.

“Well?” Brendol asked. “Why didn’t it work?”

“Because you don’t know what you’re doing!” Snoke snapped. “However, I believe you will get your wish in time.”

“What does that mean?”

“The boy will live until he is eighteen,” Snoke said with an evil smile. “Then, he will be pricked by the thorn of a rose and die.”

“No!” Anthea cried. Although she was glad that Brendol hadn’t killed Armitage, she couldn’t stand the thought of knowing that he would die so young. “Please! Can’t you undo it?”

“I could,” Snoke said. “But I won’t.”

Anthea hadn’t truly expected more of Snoke, but he was the only one who could save her son. She couldn’t help but cry, knowing there was nothing she could do. How could this be happening to her? To Armitage? A gentle hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up to see Maratelle. 

“We’ll figure something out,” she said softly.

“I want roses planted everywhere,” Brendol ordered. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and the boy will die sooner.”

Pryde and Brooks laughed at that, and Maratelle helped Anthea to her feet. Anthea wanted to beg Snoke to reconsider or ask Brendol to reconsider his plans of planting roses, but she already knew they wouldn’t help her. As Maratelle led her out of the room, Anthea realized she might have at least one ally, although she couldn’t imagine why Maratelle would want to help her.

“Armitage isn’t hurt, is he?” Maratelle asked once they were outside.

“I don’t think so,” Anthea said, glancing down at him, but her attention quickly turned to Maratelle. “Why —”

“No time for explanations now. We need to leave. Tonight. Meet me in the stables at midnight. Bring as much food as you can carry and anything else the two of you need. I’ll explain everything once we’re away from here.”

Maratelle took off, leaving Anthea alone with Armitage. She wasn’t sure if she should trust Maratelle, but looking down at Armitage, she knew she had to take the chance. They certainly couldn’t stay anywhere near Brendol. 

She headed back to her room and looked at everything she had. There wasn’t much, which at least made packing easier. She took a blanket and quickly put clothes for her and Armitage in it and then bundled it up. She held the bundle in one hand and carried Armitage in the other as she headed down to the kitchens.

It was late — there was no one else in the kitchen. Normally, Anthea would be finishing up preparing for the morning and heading to bed. Now, she found herself filling a basket with as much food as she could. Bread, fruits, vegetables, salted fish — anything that was easy to carry and eat. She didn’t know what Maratelle’s plan was, but she assumed they would be on the road for a while.

It was hard to juggle the bundle of clothing, the basket of food, and Armitage, but she managed to figure it out. She glanced at the oil lamp on her way out of the kitchen and saw that she was probably going to be late, but hopefully, Maratelle would wait for her. And hopefully, it wasn’t some kind of trap.

Anthea had worried briefly when Maratelle first told her to go to the stables, but she’d forgotten about those worries as she packed. Now as she headed to the stables with a basket of stolen goods, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing the right thing. If she was wrong and Maratelle was not truly helping her, then she would be in serious trouble.

Knowing that it was the only hope for Armitage, Anthea walked into the stables and wasn’t greeted by an armed guard, to her surprise. There was a single candle lit and Anthea headed towards it. As she drew closer, she saw Maratelle with three horses.

“You made it,” she said, a small smile on her face. “I’m almost done getting the horses ready. We’ll just need to tie on what you’ve brought and we can get out of here.”

“Where are we going?” Anthea asked as Maratelle took the basket from her. 

“I have no idea. I thought about going back to my home country, but I can’t be certain we’ll be safe there. My father was the one who wanted to ally himself with Brendol in the first place and he might tell him where we are. So we’ll go somewhere new. Corellia or Alderaan or Naboo. We’ll figure it out as we go.”

“Why are you helping us?” Anthea asked as Maratelle finished attaching the basket and walked back over to Anthea to take her bundle of clothes.

“In short, I hate what he’s doing to you and Armitage and I hate him more than I’ve ever hated any other person.” She walked back to the horse and started tying the bundle on. “I’d tell you the rest, but I’d like to get out of here as soon as possible. I don’t think we’re likely to get caught, but we’ll want as long of a head start as possible.”

Anthea was surprised that Maratelle admitted to hating Brendol so freely, but she really couldn’t blame her. Anthea had always tried to avoid the king, and had been very successful at that until he propositioned her. That’s when she started to dislike the man and now, she had to agree with Maratelle — he deserved nothing but hatred.

“Let me help you with Armitage,” Maratelle said, walking over to Anthea with a long piece of cloth. She wrapped it around both Anthea and Armitage and once Anthea realized what she was doing, she helped, moving her Armitage so he could be more easily tied in place. Soon, Armitage was secure in the sling, and in the dim light, Anthea could see his eyes closing.

“Let’s go.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse before,” Anthea said, watching as Maratelle walked over to the animals.

“I assumed as much. Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it quickly. The hardest part is getting on, but there’s a step there for you.”

Anthea watched as Maratelle got on one of the horses, then saw the block of wood next to the other. It still seemed like it was going to be impossible to get on. Surely the animal was going to move as soon as she tried. But she’d trusted Maratelle so far. She might as well trust her that the horse was safe. It wasn’t as if she really wanted to walk all the way to Naboo or any other place they might be going.

She stepped onto the block and hesitated, but the horse seemed perfectly calm. After stroking his back, she climbed on, doing her best to mimic Maratelle’s movements. She managed to get on, and stay on, but she still felt like she was about to fall off. She didn’t have long to be proud of herself, as the horse started to move and she had to worry about keeping her balance again.

Soon they were on the road leading away from the castle and Anthea glanced back, hoping it would be the last time she ever saw that place. She looked ahead to Maratelle, who was riding in front of her. Wherever they were headed, Anthea was glad Maratelle was with her.

“Armitage was supposed to be his heir,” Maratelle said after a while. “I never wanted children. When it turned out I couldn’t, I thought it was a blessing. I convinced Brendol to have a child with someone else. Or at least, I thought I had. It seems like he had other plans all along.”

“It was your idea?”

“Yes. But had I known his intentions, I would have never suggested such a thing. Although I suspect he might have done it even without my suggestion.”

“What an evil man,” Anthea muttered under her breath. She only hoped that Armitage would be nothing like him.

“He is,” Maratelle agreed.

“I’m sorry,” Anthea said. “He still is your husband and the king. I shouldn’t speak of him so.”

“If you don’t, I will. If I had had a choice, I never would have married that ugly swine. I suppose I could have run away before the wedding. I almost did, but maybe I had to be there to help you out. Guess it was all worth it.”

“You don’t even know me. It’s not that I’m not grateful, but I still don’t understand why you’re doing all this. You could have left Brendol at any time and not have me and Armitage to slow you down.”

“I used to think about running off all the time right after I married him. But I decided that I was comfortable enough there. At least until I saw you stand up to Snoke and Brendol like that. I knew I had to help you and I remembered how I always imagined running off somewhere. Maybe it’s not my fault that you got into this, but I still feel like it is and if I’m running away, I might as well take the two of you with me.”

Anthea really couldn’t complain. No matter what Maratelle’s reasons were, she was glad to be getting away with Armitage safely. At least, as safe as they could be. There was still that curse Brendol had given Armitage. Snoke had said that he could have fixed it, which gave Anthea hope. Maybe there was someone out there who could help him.

“Do you know of any other wizards?” Anthea asked. “I need to find a way to help Armitage.”

“I don’t,” Maratelle said. “But we’ll figure it out. We’ve got eighteen years. I’m sure we can find a way to help him before then.”

For the first time in a long time, Anthea felt truly hopeful. She had left everything she had ever known behind, but she knew that everything was going to work out. For her and Armitage.

***

Anthea had always wanted the best for Armitage. She never thought that would mean he would take his first steps while on the road or that he’d spend the first year of his life on the run, but despite everything, Anthea knew it was all for the best. With any luck, their journey would be over soon and they could find a place to settle down and raise Armitage like normal.

Once Arkanis was far behind them, Maratelle and Anthea had focused their attention on finding someone who knew anything about the magic that might be willing to help them. Both Anthea and Maratelle had heard many stories of magic users, but only in the faraway land of Coruscant. But no one particularly wanted to talk about them, or even confirm that they really existed.

After a long, desperate search, they were told to find Lady Kanata of Takodana, and now, they had finally made it to the castle. They still weren’t certain if Lady Kanata truly existed or if she could help them, but it was the closest they’d come to finding help. Anthea felt her stomach fluttering as they approached the castle.

They left their horses outside — Anthea had gotten much better at getting on and off and taking care of the animals — and then the duo made their way towards the main doors, which were wide open. As they walked in, Anthea looked at all the flags decorating the castle. She recognized only a few — Anthea had never seen most of them. Seeing a few flags from Arkanis made her nervous, but if the rumors were true, Lady Kanata was not allied with any nation.

As soon as they walked inside, Anthea questioned whether or not they had really entered a castle as it looked a lot more like a tavern than anything else. Of course, she’d only been to one other castle, but she glanced over at Maratelle, who also seemed surprised.

“How do we find Lady Kanata?” Anthea asked.

“Guess we just ask around,” Maratelle said as she walked further inside. Anthea followed her, holding Armitage close. He was starting to squirm, and even though he was getting bigger, and harder to hold onto, Anthea was not about to let him run loose in such a place. 

Maratelle headed through the room, and Anthea glanced around, making sure they weren’t about to be recognized. No one seemed to pay any attention to them and they made it to the bar without incident.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

“We’re looking for Lady Kanata,” Maratelle explained.

The bartender looked thoughtful for a moment, and Anthea wondered if they shouldn’t have asked so directly. But the bartender turned around and shouted, “Maz!”

A few moments later, a short, dark-skinned woman with gray hair came through a door and approached the bar. She didn’t even look at the bartender — instead, her focus was on Anthea and Maratelle. As she drew closer, Anthea noticed that she wasn’t paying attention to Maratelle, or even her. She was looking directly at Armitage.

“Well, this is quite interesting,” Maz said, looking up at Anthea and Maratelle. “You’d better come with me.”

Without waiting for a response, Lady Kanata turned and started walking away. Anthea glanced over to Maratelle, who shrugged and started following Lady Kanata, and Anthea did the same. They walked through a very large kitchen and then they found themselves outside in a small courtyard.

“We shouldn’t be bothered here,” Lady Kanata said as she took a seat on a tree stump. “Now, I imagine you’re here because of the boy. Sit down and tell me about him.”

Anthea saw there were a handful of chairs and sat down, as did Maratelle, then she quickly told Lady Kanata about what Brendol had wanted Snoke to do and what had happened to Armitage. As she told the story, she couldn’t help but cry, knowing that Lady Kanata might be their last hope. If she couldn’t help Armitage, Anthea wasn’t sure what she would do.

“Hmm. Let me see him.” Lady Kanata stood and approached Anthea and Armitage and she ran a hand over his head. Armitage giggled and reached out to Lady Kanata as she pulled her hand back. “He is indeed cursed.”

“Can you help him?” Anthea asked.

“No.”

“What?” Anthea and Maratelle spoke at the same time.

“There’s no need to do anything. He is cursed, but the rose thorn will not kill him. It will only put him in a deep sleep, to be woken by his true love. Snoke either didn’t understand the curse, or maybe there’s something else at work.” Lady Kanata looked closely at Anthea and Maratelle and then nodded.

“What is it?” Maratelle asked.

“It seems the two of you were able to protect the boy from the full effects of the curse.” Lady Kanata went back to her seat before continuing. “One thing Snoke doesn’t understand is love, and it’s love that will save him.”

“So he’ll be alright?” Anthea asked, feeling truly hopeful for the first time in nearly a year.

“He will not die. Not from this curse. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other dangers. His father will be looking for him. Now that is something I can help with.”

Anthea had tried not to think about what would happen if Brendol ever found them. Takodana was far enough from Arkanis that she liked to think he’d never find them, but she also knew that Brendol was an angry, stubborn man. If Lady Kanata could help keep him away, Anthea would be grateful.

“I’ll have you stay here for a while,” Lady Kanata said. “Takodana is about as safe as you can get, although we do get the occasional traveler from Arkanis. It wouldn’t do if they recognized their former queen here. Hmm. I’ll have to find a place away from the castle where you won’t be found.”

Anthea thought she must have misheard. Why would Lady Kanata do all that for them? Of course, it wasn’t the first time someone had done something like that for her. She glanced over to Maratelle and smiled.

“Thank you,” Anthea said. “If there’s anything we can do to repay you —”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Lady Kanata interrupted. “Now let’s find a room for you while you’re here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the art on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ArsTyrannus/status/1336294161834717187) if you want to like or retweet it!


	2. Chapter 2

The sun hadn’t even fully risen yet, but Armitage already felt exhausted. He’d gotten up early, only to find a fox sniffing around the small chicken coop. He’d chased it off, but he knew it’d probably be back. He didn’t want to kill the animal — after all, it was just trying to survive — but he and his moms needed their chickens. 

Now that he was walking back from the nearby river, Armitage wondered if he might be able to reason with the animal and offer it some fish. Now that he had some working fish traps, he was catching plenty of fish for his family. He could probably spare some for a fox as well. Of course, that meant he’d have to find its den, and that was more effort than Armitage wanted to spend. He had more important things to do with his time.

He brought the bucket of fish to the back garden and started cutting up the fish. One of his moms used to do it for him, but he was more than old enough to do it himself, although Anthea was always very protective of him. Maratelle said it was because they had almost lost him as a baby, but Armitage didn’t see why that would make her nervous to let him use a knife. If Anthea saw him out there, she’d probably try to take over, but Armitage was able to finish without being disturbed.

He took all the leftover parts of the fish and tossed it to the chickens, who immediately scrambled to eat it up. Armitage watched them for a little bit but left to take the fish inside. When he went inside, he found Anthea in the kitchen, starting a fire in the fireplace. 

“Good morning, mom,” Armitage said, bringing the fish over to her. “I caught a few fish in the traps.”

“That’s wonderful, Armie,” Anthea said as she turned her attention to him. “Oh. You know I would have prepared those, right? You didn’t have to do it.”

“I don’t mind,” he said. “Want me to help cook them?”

“Sure.”

After the fire was going, Anthea helped Armitage with the fish. There wasn’t much to do really — just adding a few herbs from their garden — but Armitage liked to spend time with his moms. And of course, he’d learned a lot about cooking by helping out. Maratelle was not quite the cook that Anthea was, but she’d been the one to teach Armitage about gardening and building things. Although he’d learned far quicker than Maratelle when it came to building, he still felt like there was quite a bit she could teach him.

While Armitage started cooking the fish, Anthea started to make bread. It wouldn’t be ready until much later, but Anthea never seemed to sit idle for long. Armitage knew he got that trait from her — he always had to be doing something.

“Good morning,” Maratelle said as she walked in from the garden door. Armitage didn’t know she was up — out of all of them, she was the one who liked to sleep in. “Looks like the peas are ready. I think I might pick them later.”

“I can help,” Armitage offered after deciding that the fish had finished cooking. He pulled it off the flame and set it down to cool.

“Don’t worry about that,” Maratelle said. “I can handle it and I think you have other things you’d rather be doing.”

“That’s true,” Armitage said, thinking of the little workshop he built. He loved spending his spare time there, but he wouldn’t abandon his chores just to play around. “But let me know if you need me.”

After eating breakfast and helping to clean up, Armitage made his way to the workshop. It was a small building that didn’t even have a door, but it worked for Armitage. Inside, there was a workbench that was covered in tools, supplies, and partially finished projects. He picked up a small machine and turned the key on the back, twisting it several times.

When he let go, the arms moved up and down, although not very smoothly. At least Armitage knew what the problem was and got to work fixing it. The machine was so small that it was little more than a toy, but Armitage thought he could make a bigger version of it, which would be able to help his moms out. He liked to think he could build all kinds of devices to help out around the cottage, but he had to take it one step at a time.

The small machines he built to learn with were somewhat useful on their own. Lady Maz Kanata enjoyed the devices and had so far purchased every single one that Armitage had built. Because of that, they’d been able to get their chickens and plant a larger garden. Once he had his latest machine finished, he’d hopefully be able to sell that too. Maybe they could get a few goats next.

“Armie!” Anthea called and when Armitage looked up from his machine, he realized the sun had moved quite a bit. He’d been working nearly all day. 

“I’ll be right there!” Armitage called back and he quickly finished up what he was doing and tested the device, smiling when he saw it was working perfectly. Next time they went to Maz’s castle, he’d take it to show to her and hopefully sell it. He didn’t know if he’d make enough to get goats, but he thought he might at least earn enough to build a goat house and pen.

He left his workshop and saw that the sun would be setting soon — there wouldn’t be enough time for him to check the fish traps and get back before night, but that was fine. He’d just check them in the morning. 

“Busy day?” Anthea asked as Armitage stepped inside the cottage.

“Yes,” Armitage said, nodding. “I got the last machine working perfectly so now I just need to build one that can do multiple things. I’ll make a small version and then hopefully I can make one that can pull up water from the well for us.”

“You are so smart,” Anthea said, smiling. “I don’t know how I ended up with such a wonderful son.”

Armitage couldn’t help but smile. His mom constantly praised him, but it made him feel good. He didn’t think it would ever get old. Although they didn’t have much and sometimes they struggled to get by, Armitage was happy with what he had. He had two moms who loved him and a comfortable house to live in. And he knew that soon enough, he’d be able to earn enough to buy his moms whatever they wanted. Once he perfected his machines, he’d be able to sell them and they would never have to worry about anything again.

As Armitage helped Anthea finish making dinner, he thought about different machines he might be able to make. Most of his ideas were things to help his moms, but he couldn’t help but think of things that he might be able to sell to Maz or others.

“You seem distracted,” Maratelle said, lightly poking Armitage with her foot under the table. “What’s on your mind?”

“Just thinking about things to build,” he said. 

“You always are. But don’t forget to eat.”

Armitage realized that he’d just been playing with his food and not really eating. As he ate, he listened to Anthea and Maratelle talk about plans for their cottage and the garden, and Armitage immediately started to think of ways to help them. He knew he’d help Maratelle with any construction, but he couldn’t help but think of ways to make things even better.

“You’re distracted again,” Maratelle said.

“Sorry.” Armitage really couldn’t help it. He was always trying to build things in his head, which at least meant he was much faster at actually making something. 

“I made you something,” Anthea said.

“You did?”

“Tomorrow’s your birthday,” Maratelle reminded him. Armitage hadn’t really thought about that. It wasn’t as if they ever did much for any of their birthdays. When Armitage was younger, his moms would sometimes get him a small toy or something if they could afford it.

“I wanted to make something special,” Anthea said as she got up and walked across the kitchen. She came back with a small cake topped with berries. “It’s not much, but I wanted to celebrate. I was going to do it tomorrow, but I just couldn’t wait.”

“Thank you!” Armitage got up and hugged Anthea and then gave Maratelle a hug as well. He hadn’t expected anything — and hadn’t even remembered his birthday — so it was more than enough.

As they ate their cake, Maratelle talked about her plans for the next day. She wanted to go into town and pick up a few supplies and Armitage volunteered to go with her. He could help carry things back, and he always enjoyed trips into town.

“Do you have to go tomorrow?” Anthea asked.

“No, but why wait?”

“It’d be nice for all of us to stay home tomorrow.”

Armitage was about to mention that they did that all the time, but there was clearly something that he didn’t understand. Maratelle reached across the table and took Anthea’s hand.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” she said. “I promise. We’ll go to town some other day.”

After that, everything seemed to go back to normal. Armitage wanted to ask what that was all about but decided not to. Whatever it was, it upset Anthea and Armitage didn’t want to bring it up again. Maybe he’d ask her about it some other time.

Armitage helped clean up the kitchen and then took care of a few chores outside before the sun went down. The moon was nearly full and Armitage took a moment to look at it and enjoy its light. He always liked bright nights where he could still see well into the night. 

A screech pulled him from his thoughts and although he couldn’t see it, he knew there was an owl nearby. He quickly checked to make sure the chicken coop was secure and headed back inside. For some reason, owls always gave him the creeps and he didn’t like being outside alone when one was so close.

He saw that Anthea had just finished some last-minute chores in the kitchen by candlelight and he walked with her down towards their bedrooms. Maratelle was already in her bedroom, but she walked out when they approached.

“Good night, Armie,” she said.

“Night mom.” 

Maratelle ruffled his hair and then returned to her room. Armitage then hugged Anthea, as he did almost every night. This time, she held onto him just a little longer.

“I love you, Armie,” she said.

“I love you too mom. Good night.” When Anthea let go, Armitage went into his own room. Anthea was definitely acting a little strange, but Armitage could worry about that in the morning.

***

Although it was his birthday, it wasn’t really any different than any other day. The only difference was that Armitage ate leftover cake for breakfast. They rarely had cake, but Armitage liked to think they might be able to afford it more often. Maybe the next time he sold something to Maz, he’d take some of the money to get ingredients for a cake.

Armitage went about his chores as usual, helping out Anthea and Maratelle when they needed it. When he went down to check his fish traps, it was later in the day than usual. Usually, he would check them first thing in the morning so they’d have a good breakfast, and then sometimes he’d check before dinner as well. The cake had been a good enough breakfast, so Armitage hadn’t bothered going down to the traps. The entire point of them was to have as fresh of fish as possible.

He found two large fish inside, which looked like it was going to be more than usual. He collected them and made his way back home, excited to show his moms the catch. Every now and then, Armitage liked to think about selling fish in town, although he knew it wasn’t practical. The town was too far to make it worth it and the fish wouldn’t be very fresh by the time he got there. But he didn’t need to worry about that. He knew he’d manage to make money with his inventions soon enough.

Just as he approached home, he noticed something unusual on the path leading to the house. At first, he could only see there was something bright red laying on the ground. As he drew closer, he could see that it was a flower. He’d seen similar flowers before, but although Maratelle did have a few plants that she grew just for the flowers, she didn’t have anything like the mysterious flower in the path.

Armitage crouched down and looked at it, not sure how it got there. The only place he’d ever seen those flowers was in town and Anthea had never let him get close to them. He never understood why but hadn’t questioned it. But now he was curious and the flower was right in front of him.

He reached out to the flower, touching the delicate petals and then picking it up at the top of the stem. It really was a beautiful flower, although he wondered if perhaps it was poisonous. Maybe that was why Anthea had told him to stay away from them. It wasn’t as if he were in danger of eating it, and he thought it would be nice to bring inside. It would be a shame for it to simply wither away outside where no one could appreciate it.

Just as he was standing up, the door to the house opened and Anthea walked out. She smiled at him, but then froze in horror the moment she saw what Armitage was holding. 

“Armie! Put that down now!”

“Why?” he asked, looking at the flower. “It’s just a flower.”

“Armie!” Anthea yelled and started running towards him. Just as she reached him, Armitage slid his hand down the stem of the flower, wanting to put it behind his back so it didn’t get destroyed. As he did so, he felt something sharp prick his finger.

He looked down and saw that the flower had thorns. Was that the danger? It didn’t hurt too badly, although he was bleeding slightly. He was about to ask Anthea what the big deal was once again, but he suddenly felt very tired and he couldn’t keep his eyelids open. He heard Anthea screaming his name, felt her arms around him, and then, he knew nothing at all.

***

Finally, his plans were coming together.

Snoke watched through the eyes of his familiar, perched in a nearby tree. Armitage Hux had finally fallen victim to his father’s curse. And if the prophecy was correct, that meant there would never be a threat to his power. “A child of Arkanis and a child of Alderaan” was what the seer had said would kill him one day, but now, Snoke could easily destroy Arkanis as their king was getting older and older and had no heir.

There was no need to worry about Alderaan, but just to make sure, Snoke set his sights on the destruction of that kingdom next.

He watched and listened to the two women who were crying over Armitage’s body. They’d done their best to protect the boy, but Snoke had found him, and it was easy enough to put a rose in his path. 

Deciding that he’d had enough of the noise, Snoke instructed his familiar to fly away, but as he did so, he heard something strange. There were three heartbeats. The owl landed again and Snoke had him make sure that it wasn’t coming from somewhere else. But as the owl turned his head, listening, Snoke realized that there was indeed a third heartbeat. Armitage was still alive.

Wanting to make sure that it was coming from Armitage, Snoke had the owl fly closer. That drew attention from the two women. The former queen of Arkanis stayed with Armitage while the other woman jumped up, trying to hit the owl. She was screaming as well, which made it difficult to hear Armitage, but eventually, the owl got past the woman and landed near Armitage.

Snoke felt a sudden pain in his side — the woman had kicked the owl and Snoke could feel it through their connection. He’d make her pay for that. But he had the confirmation that Armitage was alive. The curse hadn’t worked as intended, which meant he would have to take matters into his own hands.

He summoned his familiar back to him and started to make preparations. Getting into Takodana might be difficult with Maz Kanata guarding the land, but Snoke would do whatever it took to make sure that Armitage Hux died and the kingdom of Arkanis with him.

***

Anthea had done everything she could to protect Armitage, but it hadn’t been enough. Brendol and Snoke had won. Once she’d chased the owl away, she knelt down next to Armitage, having no idea what to do. All she could do was cry and ask Armitage to wake up.

Maratelle eventually took her hand and Anthea looked up at her. She had tears in her eyes as well, but she didn’t look like the complete mess Anthea was. 

“Let’s get him inside,” she said. 

Anthea nodded. They couldn’t just leave him outside. Although he was taller than both of them, he’d always been a skinny boy and wasn’t too heavy. They carried him inside and placed him on his bed. As Maratelle put his arms on his chest, Anthea noticed Armitage was still holding the rose. She reached out, wanting to stomp the cursed thing out of existence, but Maratelle stopped her.

“Let him hold it,” she said. “He wanted to look at something beautiful.”

“It’s not beautiful,” Anthea said. “It’s ugly and I hate it.”

Maratelle wrapped her arms around Anthea and held her close while she cried. Anthea knew that Maratelle was right — Armitage had always liked flowers and of course, he was curious about the rose. He’d probably been happy to find it. The least Anthea could do was let him keep it.

The room seemed to get darker and Anthea looked out the window to see that the sun was setting. She hadn’t even realized so much time had passed. When she looked out the window, she also saw that the owl was back. Immediately, Anthea got up and shut the curtains, then returned to Armitage.

  


She always knew that falling victim to the curse was possible, but she’d really thought they’d done enough to protect him. Everything she’d done for the past eighteen years had all been for nothing. Armitage was asleep and would not wake up until he found his true love. Anthea wasn’t even sure how that would be possible with him in such a state.

“Anthea,” Maratelle said. She looked to the door, surprised. She hadn’t even noticed that Maratelle had left. In her hand, she held two small vials on chains. They had been gifts from Maz to use in the event that the curse took effect.

Maratelle sat down on the edge of the bed next to Anthea and handed her one of the vials. Anthea looked at the purple liquid inside that almost seemed to glow. Maz had given them the potion when she’d helped them move into their cottage and explained how to use it and just what it would do.

Maz explained that Armitage was protected from the worst of the curse, but that wouldn’t stop Snoke from trying to kill him in some other way. In order to protect him, Maz had made the potion, which was very powerful magic. It required a sacrifice and Anthea had always thought they wouldn’t have to use it and for the first time in years, she thought about what it would mean to use the potion.

“Snoke’s coming,” Maratelle said. “We always knew this could happen.”

“I’m the only one who needs to drink it,” Anthea said. She always knew that she’d be the one to do whatever it took to protect Armitage. 

“It’ll be better if we both do,” Maratelle said. “I’m going to let the chickens out. They’ll at least have a chance to survive on their own.”

Anthea didn’t have a chance to argue — Maratelle was out the door. She turned her attention back to Armitage, who was still asleep and so still he almost looked dead. Anthea couldn’t help but start crying again, hating to see her son like that. She heard a screeching sound outside and knew it was the owl. She wanted to go chase it away but didn’t want to leave Armitage and it would probably just come back if she did. 

Just then, Maratelle ran back into the room and immediately opened up her potion vial.

“Wait —,” Anthea began.

“There’s no time. I think he’s on his way.”

“You’ve done so much for us, Maratelle. You don’t need to do this too. You can leave and live your life.”

“No.” Maratelle sat down next to Anthea, and put a hand on hers. “This is what I want to do. I love you and I love Armitage and I’m going to stay with you and protect him.”

Maratelle took the cork out of Anthea’s vial and then held her potion up. Anthea copied her, and then they drank the potions together. Anthea thought she’d feel something or taste something, but it was just like drinking water. Then, she suddenly felt lighter, almost as if she were starting to disappear, but Maratelle didn’t appear any different.

As the feeling intensified, Maratelle reached out to Anthea, grabbing her face and kissing her. Anthea was vaguely aware of thorns springing up all around them and everything disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben wasn’t going to cry. He’d cried too much over the past years and he was done. He was done crying, done with his family, and done with training with his Uncle Luke. He didn’t care about learning how to use magic. All he wanted was to be away from it all, and it was finally time to do so.

He couldn’t stay. Even if the argument with Luke hadn’t gotten out of hand, Ben knew he didn’t belong there. He wasn’t quite sure where he would go — perhaps back home? His parents would be disappointed in him, but that was nothing new. His father, at least, would welcome him back. Ben had always gotten along with him.

There was another option too. Snoke. He’d been talking to the old wizard almost daily for years. He’d always said he’d be willing to take Ben on as an apprentice and teach him all that he knew. Ben wasn’t certain he wanted to learn magic anymore, but if his parents didn’t want him back, then he would at least have somewhere to go.

As Ben looked around his room, he wasn’t sure what to take with him. If he went back to his parents, he wouldn’t need any of his things from school. His mother was the Queen of Alderaan and would be able to provide him with all he needed. And if he went to Snoke, well, he couldn’t imagine needing ink or quills or paper. The only thing he would need for certain was his sword.

He grabbed his belt and sword and quickly strapped it on and then headed to the stables. Unlike most of the students Luke taught, Ben had his own horse, a large black mare named Grimtaash. At least he wouldn’t have to steal a horse. He only managed to take a few steps from the school when he saw three others walking towards him.

“Ben?” A familiar voice called. “Is that you?”

The last thing Ben wanted was a confrontation with any of the other students. Especially not the ones he considered his friends.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I’m leaving,” he said.

“What? Why? Where are you going to go?” Tai took a step closer to him while the other two, Voe and Hennix, stayed back.

“I just have to,” Ben mumbled.

“You can talk to us, Ben,” Tai said, putting a hand on Ben’s shoulder.

“Luke and I… had a fight. A big one. I have to go.”

“Luke wouldn’t make you go,” Hennix said. “He’ll understand.”

“No. This is different. I hit him. I think I hurt him.” Ben knew he’d hurt Luke — he hadn’t even been moving when he left — but there was no need to tell the others that. They’d never understand.

“What?” Voe stepped closer to him. “What did you do, Ben?”

“We can’t let you leave,” Hennix said.

“You can’t stop me,” Ben warned, taking a step back and reaching for his sword. He was stronger than all three of them combined, and not only with magic. He’d trained for a long time in sword combat as well — they had no chance of stopping him.

“We can talk about this,” Tai urged. “Let’s just go inside.”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re not.”

Ben didn’t know who started it, although he assumed it was Voe. She always seemed ready to get into a fight. All he knew was that he was being attacked with magic and he quickly deflected the green light. It wasn’t even a strong attack — had Ben allowed it to hit, the worst effect might have been some slight disorientation. 

That wasn’t the only attack, and Ben soon found himself deflecting multiple magical projectiles. Mostly, he used his sword, which was good enough to stop their feeble attacks. Ben hesitated to fight back — they had been his friends at one point — but when he realized they weren’t going to stop, he used his own magic, sending a beam of energy at them. 

Hennix jumped in front of the attack, protecting the others, but he dropped to the ground. Ben froze, worried he’d severely injured him. He hadn’t wanted to hurt him or the others. Just as he saw Hennix moving a little, he noticed that Voe was preparing an attack. She launched a stream of fire at Ben, and he deflected using his own magic, not paying attention to where he was sending it. The flames crashed into the school behind Ben and quickly started to grow.

“We gotta help them!” Tai shouted, running into the building.

“What about Ben?” Voe shouted after him.

“Forget him!”

Voe hesitated but then ran into the school after Tai. Ben started to follow them, but he knew he had to leave. The other students would be fine. Probably. At least the fire gave Ben the chance to finally get away and he ran to the stables and quickly saddled Grimtaash.

As he rode away, he could see people were standing outside the burning school, but Ben didn’t give them a second thought. He needed to get away from here.

With the school on fire, Ben’s choice was made for him. He couldn’t go home. He knew he’d be blamed for the fire, and he wasn’t entirely certain his parents would welcome him home after destroying his uncle’s life’s work. Even if they did, he knew he’d never hear the end of it. He’d always wanted to be his own person, away from the legacy of his family. It seemed like he finally had his chance.

He hesitated for a moment when he came to the main road. One direction would take him home to Alderaan. He could go there, try to explain what happened to his parents. And he’d forever be a disappointment. Their son, who could never do anything right. He headed the opposite direction, towards Arkanis and Snoke.

***

Kylo Ren did not care about the enemies he was facing. They were nothing, just obstacles to get past. He didn’t even have to think about what he was doing as he effortlessly cut them down, using his sword or magic or sometimes just his body. It didn’t matter how he killed them as long as they were dead.

Ben Organa would have been appalled at the carnage. He would have wanted to stop it, tried to find some other way. But Ben Organa was dead, replaced by Kylo Ren. And for the first time in his life, Kylo was who he was meant to be.

Once all his enemies were dead, Kylo continued on his way through the old temple until he found what he was looking for. The medallion was laying on the ground as if it were a piece of garbage, but Kylo could feel the power radiating from it. He didn’t know what sort of magic it contained, but it felt powerful. 

Kylo took the medallion and then left, heading back to his new master — he’d only been his apprentice for a year — immediately. He had some minor injuries from the fight, but nothing that Kylo needed to concern himself with. Before the day was over, Kylo had made it back to the old castle in Arkanis where Snoke lived.

“Very good, my apprentice,” Snoke said with a smile. “I had assumed you would be successful. I take it you did not have any trouble.”

“No,” Kylo replied as he handed the medallion to Snoke. He looked the object over before hiding it inside his robe.

“There is one last task which you must do to complete your training,” Snoke said.

“I can do it.”

“Don’t be so sure. No one has succeeded at this in a hundred years.”

“I will.” 

Kylo was sure of that. He’d done everything Snoke had asked of him. Whatever this final task was, he’d manage to do that too.

“Do you know where we are?” Snoke asked.

“Arkanis?” Kylo wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything. He knew Snoke was ancient and wondered if his old age was finally catching up to him.

“At one point in time, the king of Arkanis lived in this castle. Back when Arkanis was important enough to have a king, of course. Do you know what happened to Arkanis?”

Kylo had to think about that. Ben’s parents had talked about it before, but it was ancient history, and Kylo hadn’t thought it was important. “The king didn’t have an heir and when he died, people fought for the throne and destroyed the country.”

“Not exactly, although I’m not surprised you didn’t learn the truth. You see, King Brendol had two children. One, his heir, and the other, a bastard. The bastard was jealous of the rightful heir and he decided to kill him. I learned of this plot too late to stop it, but I managed to preserve the heir on the brink of death. The only way to save him is to kill the bastard.”

“Wasn’t this all a long time ago?” Kylo asked. 

“It was, but the bastard had decided that if he couldn’t rule Arkanis, no one could. He put himself in a deep sleep so he wouldn’t die and then protected himself with magic. No one has ever been able to penetrate that protection.”

“You want me to kill him, then,” Kylo concluded. 

“Exactly.”

That didn’t sound difficult at all. Kylo had killed many people and killing someone who was asleep hardly seemed like a challenge. Even if there was magic protecting the man, Kylo didn’t think it would be able to stop him.

Snoke told him exactly where to find the man — in a cottage in Takodana. Ben Organa had been there before when he was a boy, but he didn’t think anyone would recognize him. That would make the job easier. He didn’t need any reminders of his past. Once he knew where he was going, Kylo prepared to leave.

It was nearly night, but Kylo would have left immediately anyway just to get a start on the final task of his training. The only reason he didn’t was because Grimtaash was tired. The horse wanted to rest and Kylo wasn’t going to overwork her. He knew that he could have gotten another horse, but he was rather attached to Grimtaash. Besides his sword, the mare was the only thing he had kept from his old life.

Just because he couldn’t leave didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything. He cleaned up and got something to eat before going to Snoke’s library. He had free access to all of the knowledge Snoke had collected over the years, which would have been reason enough for Kylo to become his apprentice. During his first few months with Snoke, he had spent nearly every moment possible in the library, learning as much as he could about the kind of magic that had been forbidden at his uncle’s school.

And not only did he get to learn about it, he had plenty of opportunities to practice it as well. There was so much more for him to learn, and Kylo looked forward to the next time he’d have a chance to read the ancient books and scrolls. He had another task at the moment, however — learning all he could about Takodana.

In addition to all of his books on magic, Snoke had books on just about every topic, as well as a large collection of maps. Some were a bit outdated, but Kylo had always been able to get close enough to wherever he was going. When he looked at the map of Takodana, he saw that it was different from the other maps.

There were marks all over it, and even a large hole that looked like it had been made with a knife. Usually, Kylo was really good at reading maps, but it took him much longer than usual given the amount of marking that had been done on it. Finally, he managed to figure out that the hole was where Maz Kanata’s castle was, and once he knew that one landmark, the rest was easy to figure out.

He found where he needed to go, a small village called Parshall. Snoke had said up the river from the village there was a lake and that the cottage was only a short distance from there. When he followed the path of the river, he saw that there was an area to the east of the lake that was circled. Given how familiar Snoke was with the target, Kylo decided that must be where the cottage was.

Knowing exactly where he was going would help — it also meant that he could avoid the larger cities or Maz Kanata’s castle. She was a friend of Ben Organa’s parents and the last thing he needed was her telling them she’d seen him. 

Kylo planned out his route, deciding where he would stop along the way. Assuming everything went according to plan, he’d be at the cottage in a week, and he didn’t think killing the man would take more than an hour. He could stop for a night or two and still manage to be back in Arkanis in a little over a fortnight.

With his plan in mind, Kylo put the maps away and then decided to get some rest. With an early start, and if he pushed Grimtaash, he could even take a day or two off the journey. He could even use magic to allow Grimtaash to run far longer than any horse could naturally, but Kylo had always been uneasy about using magic on his beloved mare, as he was certain there would be side effects.

If he managed to finish the task early, it would be because Grimtaash was able to work harder on her own, without any magical assistance.

The sun hadn’t fully set, but Kylo made his way to his room. After his earlier battle, he knew he’d fall asleep quickly.

***

It was midmorning when Kylo passed through the village of Parshall. Something about him clearly drew the villagers attention, as he could feel them watching him as he rode through. Maybe they didn’t get many visitors. They were only about two days from the castle, so that seemed unlikely. There was even an inn, which seemed unnecessary if visitors were that rare.

As Kylo made it out of the village, he decided Grimtaash was the one drawing attention. She was a tall, bulky horse, built to carry a knight, nothing like the much smaller horses he’d seen in the area. Those probably weren’t even ridden, as they seemed too short for the task. At least, Kylo hoped that was the case, because that meant people would be paying attention to Grimtaash and not him. Even if he planned to be long gone before anyone could get to the castle, Kylo didn’t want there to be any reports of him having been in Parshall.

Soon, there was no road to follow and Kylo had to simply follow the river. Once the lake was in sight, he turned and started traveling east. It wasn’t long before the forest opened up and he found what he guessed was the cottage, but it wasn’t quite what he was expecting.

The area Kylo rode into looked like it might have been a garden once, but everything was growing out of control and not in the neat rows that he would have expected. There were also chickens that were simply walking around, pecking at the ground, and Kylo saw what looked like a very run down chicken coop, but the door was wide open. Off to the side, there was another run down building, a bit larger than the coop, but Kylo wasn’t sure what it was for.

The cottage looked like it was in the best condition of anything. It wasn’t exactly in a state of disrepair, but the building was completely covered in thorns. Kylo could just barely make out a door and windows through the vines. He’d never seen anything like it, but at least it would be easy enough to get through.

Kylo dismounted near the cottage and drew his sword. He could feel the magic radiating from the cottage. He’d been to other places where he could feel the magic, but it had never felt quite like what was coming from the cottage. It was somehow both warm and threatening. But just because a place had magic didn’t mean it was dangerous, and Kylo lifted his sword, bringing it down on the closest vine.

As expected, the sword cut through as if it weren’t even there. But almost instantly, the vine started to grow back together. Kylo cut again, slicing it before it could fully grow back. He immediately raised his sword to strike again, and then again. On the fifth time, he felt something wrapping around his wrist and he looked to see a vine was wrapping around him and soon, the thorns were digging into his skin.

He dropped his sword, catching it with his other hand so he could cut himself free. Once the vines were cut away, Kylo backed away. The vines remained in place, but when he took a step forward, they came after him again. He swung his sword, cutting and knocking them back. Kylo was starting to see why Snoke said it was a difficult mission, but he was determined to succeed.

At least he had something most other people didn’t — he had magic on his side. Using magic, he managed to slow the vines, which allowed him to cut through them easily. A few managed to break through and grab him, but he didn’t get anything worse than a few minor cuts. It was enough to be irritating and Kylo decided that once he finished his mission, he was going to burn the entire cottage to the ground.

As soon as he made it through the door, something orange and white flew at him. Kylo quickly blocked it with his arm and a fox fell to the ground. It growled and charged towards him, but Kylo stopped it with magic and tossed it outside. 

The house was a bit of a mess, but that wasn’t surprising given that wildlife had taken up residence. A quick look around the room told him he was in the kitchen and he didn’t think he’d find what he was looking for there. Most of the house was in the same state as the kitchen, although given that it had been abandoned for a hundred years, it wasn’t as bad as Kylo would have expected. Maybe there was someone still there.

Kylo kept his hand on his sword as he walked through the cottage, and finally, he came to a tangle of vines in a hallway. As much as he didn’t want to deal with more thorns, he suspected that was exactly where he had to go. He made his way down the hall and finally into a room filled with even more vines.

By the time he cut through them, he was exhausted, but he had no time to rest. He was still holding the vines back with magic, as he wasn’t sure it would end well if he lost his control so deep within the thorny plants. At least his target was right in front of him.

Kylo walked over to the bed where a young man was lying in bed. He could have been dead, given how still he was, but Snoke said he was under the effects of a sleeping curse. There was a rose in his hands, and when Kylo looked back at his face, he couldn’t get over how peaceful he looked.

He remembered the things that Snoke had said about him — that his jealousy had caused the downfall of an entire kingdom. But Kylo couldn’t believe the red headed man in front of him could be filled with that kind of evil. He was too beautiful for that. 

Kylo put his sword back in the sheath and knelt down next to the bed. He put a hand on his shoulder, almost hoping that it would wake him, but that was impossible. Not unless Kylo could break whatever curse was holding him in his endless sleep. He had the urge to do just that. Kylo knew very little about curses — his uncle had not taught them, and he’d been more interested in the more physical uses of magic. But he could figure it out.

One thing was for certain — Kylo could not bring himself to kill the man before him.

Kylo left, making his way back through the vines. They didn’t give him nearly as much trouble as they did when he came in and soon, he was back outside with Grimtaash, who was walking around the garden, eating everything in sight.

“Come on,” he said to the horse. “I have the feeling we’ll be back soon enough.”

It had taken Kylo longer than he thought in the cottage, as it was nearly night. Even had he planned on going back to Arkanis immediately, he would not have made it any further than Parshall. He found a place to stable Grimtaash and then made his way to the inn, where he was able to get a room for the next few nights.

He got something to eat and then went to his room, ready to sleep so he could return to the cottage in the morning. He didn’t think the small village would have the resources to help him figure out how to break the curse, but Kylo was going to try.

“ _I sense you were not successful,_ ” Snoke’s voice said inside Kylo’s head, causing him to jump. He hated when Snoke did that without warning.

“No,” Kylo said. “I couldn’t get through. But I’ll try again tomorrow.”

“ _Very well. Do not waste too much time. If you can’t complete this task, then you may need more training._ ”

That was true, but Snoke wouldn’t give Kylo the training he needed to break the curse. He was strong enough that he could complete Snoke’s task, but he couldn’t do that. Kylo wondered if it might be time to find a new teacher, although wizards weren’t very common, especially ones with the knowledge and experience Kylo needed.

Once Snoke was out of his head, Kylo laid down and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

He’d never dreamed much, and certainly never had any realistic dreams, but he knew he’d fallen asleep, so the only explanation was he was dreaming. He was back at the cottage, but it looked very different. The garden was neat, with everything planted in rows, the buildings weren’t falling apart, and the chickens were all inside the fenced area of the coop. Most notably, however, was that the cottage was not covered in thorns.

Unlike how the cottage actually looked, this version of it seemed nice. It felt like a home. Kylo almost felt like he would be able to walk in and just live there — and he’d finally have a place where he’d be happy. Of course, the cottage wasn’t really like that. It was only in his dream.

The door of the cottage opened and the man who he’d last seen sleeping while surrounded by thorns walked out. He was walking towards the chickens, and then he turned his head towards Kylo and suddenly stopped. Kylo had no idea how long they stared at each other, but eventually, the man walked over to him.

“Are you real?” he asked.

“I am. But you’re just part of my dream.”

“Dream? You think you’re dreaming?” The man was walking closer and although he was only a dream, Kylo stepped back. There might be some truth to what Snoke said about him being dangerous.

“I fell asleep and now I’m here, so I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming.”

“Then how did you get here?”

“I…” Kylo couldn’t tell him the truth — that he had broken into his cottage to kill him. “Well maybe you’re also dreaming.”

“I’m not. Otherwise, I’d have been dreaming for a very long time.”

Kylo wasn’t sure how to explain to him that he probably had been, although he was surprised that he didn’t know. Then again, Kylo knew nothing about sleeping curses, so maybe it was normal to not know what had happened.

“What?”

“You have been dreaming a long time. You’ve been asleep for nearly a hundred years.”

“Then how are we talking right now?”

“In dreams?” Kylo suggested with a shrug. He couldn’t really explain it, but he knew he was dreaming. He had just visited the cottage and it looked completely different. Being in a dream was the only explanation.

The other man turned and walked back into the cottage without saying another word. He would have thought he’d have something to say about that revelation. He should have more questions or at least want to argue, but there was nothing. Kylo didn’t think he could just leave the dream and he wanted to talk to the man anyway, so he followed him, pausing at the door.

Kylo glanced around, looking for any thorny plants that might try to attack him, but there didn’t seem to be any kind of dangerous plants near the door. He reached for the handle, but then decided to knock. There was no answer, so Kylo opened the door to see the man sitting at the table and possibly crying.

“Hey.” Kylo took a step in, not sure what he should do. The man looked up at him and quickly wiped at his eyes.

“What do you want?”

“Just wanted to see if you were okay.”

“What do you think?”

Kylo walked closer, moving slow so the man could tell him to stop if he didn’t want him to come any closer. He watched him, a bit suspiciously, but didn’t try to stop him as he sat down.

“You didn’t know?” Kylo asked.

The man shook his head. “I suppose I should have known,” he said. “I’m the only one here and I know my moms wouldn’t have just left me. And everything else just isn’t right.”

“Like what?”

“Everything,” he said with a shrug. “If the fox eats a chicken, it’s alive again the next day. I’m never hungry or tired. And I can’t even leave here. I tried walking to town but then just came out of the forest right back here.”

Kylo didn’t really know what to say, so he just sat there. Talking about things had never really been something he was good at and he knew that he couldn’t say anything to make him feel better.

“Has it really been a hundred years?”

“I don’t know exactly. But probably about that long. Fits the timeline of Arkanis being lost.”

“Arkanis? What’s that have to do with anything?”

“Aren’t you the prince of Arkanis? Lost to a curse so there was no heir?”

“Do I look like a prince?” 

Kylo realized that the man had a point. He remembered how Ben Organa dressed when he lived with his parents. Even just on a day he kept to himself, he wore much nicer clothes than most people would ever own. The man in front of him had on a simple shirt and pants along with well-worn boots. Prince Ben would have never worn such an outfit. “I guess not,” Kylo muttered.

If the man wasn’t the lost prince of Arkanis, then who was he? And why did Snoke want him dead? It didn’t make sense to kill someone who lived in a small cottage far from anything. How could he possibly be a threat? He was so slender and beautiful and Kylo couldn’t imagine him being even the least bit dangerous.

“My name is Kylo Ren,” he said.

“Kylo Ren,” he repeated. “How’d you get here?”

“I don’t know. I was walking near your cottage earlier today and then fell asleep and now I’m here. What’s your name?”

The man hesitated and Kylo wasn’t sure he was going to answer. Finally, he said, “Armitage.”

Once again they fell into silence. Kylo wasn’t sure what to do. He could leave, but he didn’t think that he’d be able to truly leave until he woke up. A thought suddenly hit him. What if he’d been cursed too? Maybe he would end up trapped with Armitage forever. He liked to think that he would have known if he’d been cursed, but he had so little experience with them that he really didn’t know.

“When you were here,” Armitage said, breaking the silence and pulling Kylo from his thoughts, “was there anyone here?”

“Just you,” Kylo said. “Lots of thorny plants, but no other people.”

“I guess that makes sense,” he said sadly. Tears started to form in his eyes again. “If it’s been a hundred years, then I guess my moms are dead. I never even got to say goodbye.”

As Armitage started to cry, Kylo got up and put his arms around him. He didn’t know why he did it, but he had to do something to try to comfort the man. No one deserved to go through what Armitage was going through. He had a family who loved him and he had just learned he’d lost them. Kylo briefly thought about Ben’s family, but then pushed that thought aside. They hadn’t loved him. Not the real him, anyway.

Soon, Armitage pulled away from Kylo and stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay,” Kylo said. “I think I’m the one who started it anyway.”

“It’s just that you’re the first person I’ve seen in a very long time and I miss being hugged.” Armitage had his arms loosely wrapped around himself, as if he was trying to hug himself.

“Do you want me to hug you again?” Kylo asked.

“You don’t mind?” 

“No,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “I haven’t been hugged in a while either, and I miss it too.”

Kylo stepped forward and reached out to him, and Armitage didn’t pull away. Kylo couldn’t resist touching the side of his face before slipping his arms around him and pulling him close. After a moment, Armitage put his arms around Kylo too and they stood there, hugging each other as if they were old friends coming back together after years. It was odd for Kylo to feel so comfortable with someone he didn’t really know, but Armitage was different. Maybe that was why he couldn’t kill him before.

After a while, the feeling of Armitage’s arms around him started to feel lighter and lighter. He opened his eyes and saw that the cottage seemed to be fading away as well. It didn’t take him long to realize what was happening.

“I’m waking up,” Kylo said, pulling back from Armitage.

“Will you come back?” Armitage asked.

“Yes,” Kylo promised, only remembering that he had no idea how he got into the dream in the first place after he spoke. He knew he’d find a way to get back to Armitage somehow. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away.

Armitage started to say something, but Kylo never heard it because he woke up in his room at the inn. At least he knew that he wasn’t under the effects of a sleeping curse. That left him free to find a way to break Armitage’s curse.

And he knew that he would. No matter how long it took, Kylo was going to wake Armitage up.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Kylo was awake, he headed back to the cottage. He didn’t know what he was going to do or if being there could help at all, but he wanted to see Armitage again. He wanted to talk to him, and he had seen him before being able to enter his dream, so Kylo decided he would try the same thing again. 

When he stood in front of the cottage, he hesitated before drawing his sword. He was covered in scratches and he wasn’t looking forward to fighting the thorns again, but it would be worth it for Armitage. As he drew his sword, he saw one of the vines twitching and he got ready to block the attack, but it never came. Instead, the vines started to slowly pull themselves away, leaving the door unguarded.

Kylo hesitated, convinced it had to be a trap. The vines had done everything they could — and many things plants shouldn’t have been able to do — to keep him out. Were they leading him into a trap? If that was the case, the only thing Kylo could do would be to walk into it and be ready to fight his way out.

He made it through the door with no problem, but he kept his sword at the ready, waiting for the thorns to attack him. As he continued on his way through the cottage, the vines continued to part for him, allowing him to get back to Armitage easily. Once in the room, Kylo noticed there was something different about the vines.

They had little specks of green on them — leaf buds.

Kylo looked outside the room and saw that there were no buds in the hallway, just in the room with Armitage. Had they grown overnight? That seemed strange, but Kylo knew nothing about plants and definitely knew nothing about magical plants. He didn’t even really know why he’d come back to the cottage, because there was nothing he could do to help Armitage.

He put his sword away and walked over to Armitage, sitting down next to the bed. Although he didn’t know what he could do, it felt right to be there with Armitage. Still, it felt weird to just sit there.

“Hey,” Kylo said. “I know you probably can’t hear me. But I don’t know what else to do. So I guess I can just talk or something?”

As soon as he said that, Kylo ran out of things to say. He’d never really been much into talking and it was strange talking to someone who couldn’t respond or even hear him. But then, that also had his benefits.

“I’m supposed to be an apprentice to a wizard named Snoke,” Kylo said, deciding to tell him all about the things he’d never been able to talk to anyone about. He told him about his uncle’s school and how even before that, Snoke had been talking to him for years, and how he’d never been sure about learning magic at all, and how he never really knew what he wanted. 

He felt ridiculous at first, but as he talked, he started to become more comfortable, and before he knew it, the day had passed. It was time to leave, but Kylo didn’t really want to go. He wondered if he could just sleep in the cottage, but he didn’t know how Armitage would feel about that. Maybe he would ask him in his dream. If he was able to go back.

There was only one way to find out.

Once again, the vines let Kylo out easily and he rode Grimtaash back to the village. After his horse had been taken care of, he got himself something to eat and went to his room. He wanted to fall asleep immediately, but he wasn’t that tired. Kylo tried to make himself more comfortable so he’d be able to sleep and get back to Armitage, but he just couldn’t.

Just as he was starting to get frustrated, he remembered something that Luke had taught Ben Organa. Meditation. It had always put Ben to sleep, and Kylo had no reason to think it wouldn’t still work. He took a few deep breaths, cleared his mind, and suddenly found himself back at the cottage.

Kylo ran to the door and knocked on it and soon, it opened and Armitage was there with a smile on his face. Kylo couldn’t help but throw his arms around him, glad to finally see him again. Or at least see him where he wasn’t lying in bed.

“You came back!” Armitage said.

“I told you I would,” Kylo said, still holding onto him. “I came back to the cottage today. Just to sit with you. I wanted to make sure I got to see you again.”

“Oh.” Armitage pulled back from him and Kylo thought that he’d tell him not to do that anymore. If that’s what he wanted, Kylo would do so, but he would hate to not see Armitage again. “Are you still there?”

“No,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “I’m back in the village. Parshall. But I could stay in the cottage. If that’s okay with you.”

“Of course,” Armitage said. “If I’m just sleeping there I guess it doesn’t really matter. What’s the cottage like now?”

Kylo started to describe it but he could see that Armitage looked sad every time he mentioned something that was falling apart. Not wanting to upset him, Kylo quickly asked him to show him around the cottage and he did. There wasn’t much to see and soon, they ended up outside, sitting together on a log bench. Not really knowing what else to say, Kylo started to tell Armitage about Alderaan, where he’d grown up. He left out the part about his mother being the queen of Alderaan, as it wasn’t something Armitage would ever need to know.

“I wish I could see it,” Hux said after Kylo described the mountains.

“I’ll take you there sometime,” Kylo promised before remembering his intention to never return to Alderaan. But for Armitage, he could make an exception. “I’ll wake you up and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

Armitage smiled and Kylo knew that he would make good on that promise someday. No matter what it took. As Kylo continued to talk, there was no hiding from Armitage the fact that he was training in magic. At least Armitage thought it was interesting — as soon as Kylo realized there was no way that Armitage could know who his uncle was, he didn’t even have to worry about saying too much. 

Kylo had never felt like he could talk to someone like he could with Armitage. And unlike anyone else in his life, Armitage just listened. He didn’t tell Kylo that he was wrong or that he should have done something else. He listened and asked him questions and Kylo realized that no one had ever done that before. He hadn’t even realized how much he’d been keeping in until he was letting it all out.

“Sorry,” Kylo said after ranting about his mother’s and uncle’s expectations for him. “You probably didn’t want to hear all that.”

“No,” Armitage said. “It’s interesting. I wish I had something interesting to talk about but I’ve just lived here my entire life. The furthest I’ve been from this cottage is Maz’s castle.”

“Maz? Maz Kanata?”

“Yeah! Do you know her? She’s still alive?”

“Maybe?” Kylo wasn’t sure. He knew she was old, but he had no idea if she could possibly be the same person that Armitage would have known. “But maybe she’s a relative of Maz’s or something.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Armitage said with a sigh. Kylo scooted closer to him and put an arm around him.

“She’s got magic,” Kylo said. “Maybe she is the same Maz you knew.”

“What’s it like to have magic?” Armitage asked.

“It’s…” Kylo wasn’t quite sure how to explain it. He’d never had anyone to explain it to. Everyone else he knew could also use magic and even if they weren’t, Kylo couldn’t imagine having a conversation like that with anyone. “It’s like if you closed your eyes but you could still see because you can feel everything around you. The trees and the bugs and the chickens. It all has power. I can feel it around me, and if I want to use it, I can.”

“Can you feel it here?” Armitage asked.

“Kind of,” Kylo said, pausing to think again. “There’s magic. But it’s not the usual magic. It’s different somehow.”

“Can you still use it?”

“I don’t know.” It was only his second time in the dream and he wasn’t sure how everything worked, but there was only one way to find out. There was a basket sitting not too far away and Kylo reached out to it, concentrating and trying to make it float. Although he could feel the magic all around him, he couldn’t connect to it like he usually did. But it was there. He just needed to figure out how to use it while in the dream.

Usually, it felt like the magic simply flowed through him — all he had to do was open up and it came to him. In the dream, it didn’t do that. Instead, it felt like it was just at his fingertips and then slipped away. If he could only touch it, he could use it. He moved a hand towards Armitage and brushed against his hand and suddenly, he had the magic in his grasp and the basket floated into the air.

“It would have been easier to go over and pick it up,” Armitage remarked as Kylo put the basket back down.

“Yeah, well, I can do a lot more. I didn’t know how to use magic here at first. But I think I have it figured out.”

“How does it work?”

“I think I have to touch you,” Kylo said, glancing down to where his fingers were resting on top of Armitage’s. “I couldn’t do anything until I touched you. I can still feel it now. Stronger than before.”

“Well, none of that makes any sense to me,” Armitage said, but he had a small smile on his face. “I suppose magic doesn’t make sense if you can’t use it.”

“I guess not.” Kylo really hadn’t spent much time around non-magic users, and never anyone his own age. Although Armitage really wasn’t his age. Still, he definitely didn’t look like he was over a hundred years old. Whatever magic that kept him in sleep also kept him young, so Kylo decided that Armitage really wasn’t that old.

“Does everyone in your family have magic?”

“Almost. My dad doesn’t. And some of my uncles, although I guess they’re not really related to me. They’re just family friends.” Kylo didn’t like to think about Ben’s family, but he didn’t mind talking to Armitage about them. It felt right.

“So your dad just joined a family of magic users. Is that normal?”

“I guess,” Kylo said with a shrug. “It never seemed that strange to me, anyway.”

“I suppose I had always thought of magic users keeping to themselves,” Armitage said. “Glad that’s not the case.”

Armitage looked away, but Kylo thought he saw a hint of a blush starting to appear on his cheeks before he did, and Kylo smiled. 

“Me too.” Before he could say anything else, Kylo started to feel like he was waking up, and he gripped Armitage’s hand. He didn’t want to leave him. He wanted to stay longer and talk to him or even just sit with him. 

“Armitage,” Kylo said, fighting to stay with him just a little bit longer. Why couldn’t he just stay asleep? 

“You’re leaving?” Armitage asked as he turned to him.

“I’m sorry. I’ll come back.” Kylo started to lean forward, wanting to kiss him, but he suddenly found himself back at the inn at Parshall. He swore loudly, angry that he hadn’t been able to stay in the dream longer. 

Then he remembered that Armitage had said that he could stay at the cottage. If he couldn’t stay in the dream, then he could at least be near Armitage. For a brief moment, he thought about how spending time with Armitage wasn’t actually helping — he should be trying to break the curse. But there would be plenty of time for that later. First, he needed to spend time with his friend.

Kylo smiled at that thought. He had a friend. He’d never been able to say that about anyone else before. Just a few more nights, Kylo told himself. Just to spend some more time with Armitage and then he’d start working on waking him up.

***

Armitage had been alone for a long time. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed — sometimes, it felt like an eternity, and other times, it only felt like a few days. Now he knew exactly how long it had been, and as much as it hurt to learn that everything he’d ever known was gone, he also had something very important: Kylo.

As a child, he had played with the other kids in Parshall, but there had never been anyone he would consider a friend. He hadn’t thought that he was lonely — he had plenty of things to occupy his time and his moms to keep him company, but now that he’d met Kylo, he hated every moment that they weren’t together.

According to Kylo, he was staying at the cottage, so he wasn’t actually alone, but as far as Armitage was concerned, it didn’t count. If he couldn’t see Kylo or talk to him, then Armitage was still alone. So far, Kylo had shown up seven times. Armitage assumed that was how many nights that Kylo had slept, but time moved differently in his dream world. It had only been night once since he’d first seen Kylo.

It could have been hours or days, but soon, Kylo appeared just on the edge of the cottage garden, the same place he always showed up. Armitage didn’t have much else to do, so he’d started to simply sit outside, waiting for Kylo to arrive. He knew it was sad, but he also knew Kylo wouldn’t judge him. Even though they hadn’t known each other for long, Armitage felt like he could trust him.

As soon as he saw Kylo, he got up and ran over to him, and as always, Kylo greeted him with a hug. Armitage had no idea how long they stood there, holding on to each other, but it didn’t matter. If that’s all they did, it would be enough for Armitage. He hadn’t realized just how much he missed being hugged or touched until Kylo had arrived. At least Kylo seemed to enjoy it as much as Armitage did. Even when he finally let go of him, Kylo still held Armitage’s hand.

“Want to walk around in the forest?” Kylo asked and Armitage nodded. He didn’t really care what they did or where they went. He couldn’t get that far from the cottage anyway, but Armitage suspected that he could get just a little further with Kylo.

As they walked into the forest, Kylo told him more about Alderaan and how he used to go hunting with his father and uncles. Armitage had never hunted anything before. He’d thought about learning how to make traps for small game, but he’d been able to get enough food just by fishing, so he hadn’t ever given it the time.

He almost asked Kylo to show him some tricks, but from the sound of it, he’d only been hunting large animals with a bow. Armitage couldn’t even imagine what he would do with that much food. He and his moms probably could have had food for months from one deer. He knew Kylo had a much larger family — his parents, three uncles, an aunt, grandparents, and a sister. Armitage had a hard time imagining a family that large, but he did like listening to Kylo talk about them.

Kylo was telling Armitage about a time he’d gotten lost while out hunting and ended up spending the night out in the forest. According to Kylo, that was when he decided he liked being outside and would rather be in a forest than in a city or town. It didn’t take much prompting to get Kylo to tell him about some of the other places he’d explored and Armitage was happy to listen, imagining what all those places might be like.

As they walked, they came across a small clearing and Armitage walked over to a large tree. Since he still held Kylo’s hand, Armitage brought him along as well. They sat down, and Hux leaned up against Kylo, still listening to him talk.

Armitage closed his eyes, asking Kylo questions every now and then, but mostly just listening to him and enjoying the way Kylo held him. He liked the way Kylo’s arm felt around him and never wanted him to let go. But he’d wake up at some point and there was no way for Armitage to stop it from happening. He could at least enjoy it while it lasted.

There was a way he could make it last longer, but Armitage wasn’t sure if it would be strange to ask that of Kylo. As he cuddled with Kylo, he decided it wasn’t that weird and Kylo could always say no.

“Can I ask you something?” Armitage asked, looking up at Kylo.

“Sure,” Kylo said.

“When you wake up, could you do this some more? Hold me or maybe just lay down next to me or something?”

“Yeah,” Kylo said, smiling. “I’ll do that.”

Hux smiled and put his head back on Kylo’s shoulder. At least when Kylo left the dream, he’d still be with him. It wouldn’t really be the same, but Armitage liked the idea of Kylo always staying by his side.

“Hey,” Kylo said after a while. “We should probably head back. I’m probably going to wake up soon.”

“We can stay,” Armitage said.

“I don’t want you to be alone out here,” Kylo said. “And it’s already starting to get dark.”

“It’s not a problem,” Armitage said. “It’s not like there’s anything that can hurt me here.” As soon as he said that, he wondered just how true that was. He’d hurt himself plenty of times only to be just fine a short while later, which made sense for being in a dream. But he didn’t really know how things worked.

“I guess we could head back,” Armitage said. He’d hate to end up lost or injured and not be able to find Kylo the next time he arrived. He stood up and once Kylo was on his feet, he immediately grabbed his hand. Armitage smiled as they started walking back to the cottage.

“I wish you could stay,” Armitage said once they’d made it back.

“Me too. But maybe I can wake you up.”

“How?” Armitage didn’t understand how curses worked, but from the way Kylo had described it, Armitage thought he’d be trapped in the dream forever.

“I don’t know,” Kylo said with a shrug. “But I’m going to figure it out. I was going to talk to you about it actually.”

“Kylo,” Armitage said as he threw his arms around him. “You’re starting to wake up.”

“I’m sorry,” Kylo said, like he almost always did as he woke up. “I’ll tell you all about it next time, okay?”

“Okay,” Armitage said. He pulled away to see Kylo was fading away and he leaned forward, wanting to kiss him, but his lips only touched air. Kylo was gone and Armitage had nothing to do besides wait for him to return.

***

Kylo had been so happy when Armitage asked him to share his bed. He’d wanted to do just that since he first met him, but he didn’t know if Armitage would like that. The first thing he did was go into his room and sit on the bed with him. Even though Armitage had asked, and they’d spent plenty of time cuddling in the dream, Kylo hesitated. He’d never actually held someone before.

Reminding himself that it was just the same as the dream, Kylo laid down next to Armitage and put an arm around him. Very quickly, he realized it was not the same. In the dream, Armitage moved and talked, but the Armitage in bed was unable to move or even know that Kylo was there.

He’d sat with him everyday, but it was different laying next to him. It made Kylo even more determined to wake him up. He wanted to be with him all the time, not just in dreams.

“I’ll find a way to wake you up,” Kylo said softly. “I promise.”

Kylo closed his eyes, hoping that he’d fall asleep so he could talk to Armitage again. He needed to tell him about his plans, because he wasn’t sure he would be able to see him once he left. And he’d have to leave to save him.

It was no surprise to Kylo that he couldn’t fall asleep. He’d always had trouble sleeping, and although he didn’t have as many problems as he used to, he could never manage to take a nap in the middle of the day. Which meant he’d have to wait to see Armitage again.

Kylo would have liked to stay with him forever, both in his dream and in the bed, but he couldn’t. He had to take care of himself, which meant he eventually had to get out of bed. He took his time, maintaining contact with Armitage as long as possible, before he finally stood up and made his way outside. Now all the vines were covered in leaves and there were even flowers growing. Kylo knew it had to be magic, although he didn’t know the nature of it.

The first thing he did once outside was to check on Grimtaash. He hated leaving his horse loose, but at least she didn’t seem to mind. Kylo looked at the rundown building next to the cottage. There was a lot of stuff in there, but he could probably turn it into a shelter for the horse. That was something he should have done sooner.

As usual, Grimtaash was nearby, eating grass and whatever vegetables she could find. Kylo ate some as well. He still had a little food that he’d brought from Parshall, but he was running low. Kylo had been eating what he could find in the garden to make his supplies last longer, not wanting to waste time going back and forth between the village and the cottage.

He had enough food to last at least another two days, and Kylo didn’t think he’d be at the cottage any longer than that. It was tempting to put off leaving — a few days really wouldn’t make much of a difference. He could head back to Parshall, stock up on food, and then stay until he ran out of food again. It’d give him more time with Armitage and whatever information he was looking for would still be out there when he left.

Somehow, Kylo suspected that the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to leave. He’d tell Armitage that night and then they would have one more night together. Kylo had no idea if he’d still be able to visit Armitage in his dreams once he left. He hoped so, but he had to prepare as if he wouldn’t see him again for a while. 

As he was picking berries on a nearby bush, Kylo thought about how he would tell Armitage he had to leave. He knew that Armitage was lonely and had no one else. It was not going to be easy, Kylo thought. But hopefully, Armitage would understand why he had to leave, and it wouldn’t be for forever. 

As he was eating berries, Kylo heard something moving above him. He glanced up and saw an owl in the tree overhead. Kylo froze. The owl looked just like Snoke’s familiar. 

Kylo told himself that was crazy. There were probably tons of owls around the cottage and it couldn’t be that unusual for an owl to just stare at a person. He moved away from it, but the owl kept its eyes on him. It was starting to become unnerving and Kylo tried to convince himself that it was because the owl wasn’t blinking. 

He quickly moved away from the owl and went to the other side of the cottage, trying to convince himself it was just a normal owl. Not that he’d ever seen or heard one in the area before. But that didn’t mean they weren’t there.

Any idea that it was just a regular owl vanished when Kylo saw it land in a tree in front of him. He knew he’d have to come up with an excuse for Snoke eventually, but he thought he’d do that when he got back to Arkanis. He also had no idea what Snoke had seen through the owl’s eyes. Did Snoke know that he could easily walk in the cottage? Had he been able to see through the window in Armitage’s room? 

Kylo was at least fairly certain Snoke couldn’t see inside the cottage. The thorns in front of the windows were too thick . Almost as if they were protecting Armitage from view, which Kylo decided was probably their purpose. But Snoke probably knew that Kylo had been able to get in and out without a problem, and now he’d have to come up with some excuse.

“What do you want?” Kylo shouted at the owl. It continued to stare at him, unmoving.

“ _Have you completed your mission?_ ” Snoke asked.

“No,” Kylo said.

“ _But you have gotten past the defenses._ ”

“Some of them,” Kylo admitted. “It’s worse inside the cottage, though.”

“ _Perhaps I should assist you, then._ ”

“No!” Kylo shouted, without thinking. “I want to do this myself. I can. I just — I need to do some research.”

“ _Research?_ ” Snoke repeated. “ _Then I expect that you shall be returning home soon._ ”

“Yes,” Kylo said. At least now he had no choice but to leave. “I’ll head back in a few days.”

“ _Why delay if there’s nothing more you can do there?_ ”

That was a good question, to Snoke’s credit, and Kylo had to think fast. “I’m still testing the defenses. I’ve never encountered this kind of magic before, so I need to investigate a bit more.

“ _Very well. Return tomorrow, if that’s the case._ ”

“But —” Kylo didn’t have a chance to make his argument before he felt Snoke’s presence vanish from his mind. At the same time, the owl flew off. He knew there was nothing Snoke could do to force him to return early, but he could punish him for a delay when he made it back. 

Kylo wanted to tell Armitage and have at least one more night with him so he would have time to process the information. He hated to drop the news on him and then leave the next day, but he had no choice. Not unless he wanted to push Grimtaash to make up for an extra day. She could do it, but Kylo knew that meant risking injury. He could make up some other reason that it took him longer to return home, but it was much harder to lie to Snoke in person.

It would be best for Kylo to leave the next day.

He walked back into the cottage and returned to Armitage’s room. Before lying down, he glanced at the window — it was mostly covered by thorns and he’d seen the owl leave. Even if it was watching, Kylo could come up with some excuse. He needed to be as close to Armitage as possible.

He laid down next to him, lightly touching Armitage’s shoulder before pulling his hand back. All he wanted was to be able to talk to him again and spend a little more time with him, but Kylo couldn’t fall asleep.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I want to be with you.” He reached his hand up to touch Armitage’s face, wishing he could react to it. In the dream, Armitage would smile and lean into the touch and every time Kylo saw him smile, he wanted nothing more than to kiss him. But the Armitage he was with in bed couldn’t smile, and didn’t even know Kylo was there. Kylo hated it.

Kylo had no idea how long he spent laying in bed, wanting to sleep but unable to. Finally, he found himself standing outside of the cottage.

“Armie!” he called.

Kylo only saw a blur of orange hair coming at him from the forest and before he knew it, Armitage was in his arms. Kylo held him tight, never wanting to let go. 

“I missed you,” Armitage said. “I’m always scared you might not come back.”

Kylo almost assured him that he would always come back, that he didn’t want to be anywhere besides with Armitage. But he couldn’t lie to him. He pulled away from Armitage, not knowing how to tell him. 

“What’s wrong?” Armitage asked.

“I…” Kylo couldn’t look at him. He knew the news would hurt Armitage, but he knew what he had to say. “I have to leave.”

“What? What do you mean, _leave_? You’re going to wake up? Buy you just got here!”

“No,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “I have to leave the cottage and go back to Arkanis.” 

“Why?”

“Snoke ordered me to,” Kylo muttered. He’d already told Armitage about his master, only leaving out the fact that Snoke had sent him there to kill him. 

“So don’t go.”

“I have to.” Kylo finally looked up at Armitage. He’d never seen him get angry before, and Kylo wasn’t sure if that possibility was better or worse than seeing Armitage cry. Kylo didn’t want him upset,but he didn’t think he would have been able to handle it if Armitage had started to cry.

“No you don’t,” Armitage said. “You have magic. You can do whatever you want.”

“I’m not that powerful,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “And it’s more than just Snoke. I need to use his library. To see if I can find a way to wake you up.”

“Why didn’t you say that first?” Armitage nearly shouted at him.

Kylo quickly explained about Snoke’s familiar and that Snoke had ordered him to return, but that he had been planning on leaving anyway, although not quite so soon. Armitage seemed less angry, but he was clearly unhappy about the situation.

“Do you really think you can find a way to wake me up?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

“I hope so,” Kylo said. “I’ll do everything I can to find a way.”

“Will you still visit me here?”

Kylo wished he knew the answer to that. He knew nothing about the magic keeping Armitage asleep or the magic protecting or even how he was able to visit Armitage in dreams. Most of what he knew was combat magic, which was completely useless when it came to strange curses.

“I hope so,” he said, although he somehow suspected that wouldn’t be the case. If it was anyone else, he would have left it at that, but he needed to be completely honest. “But probably not. I think I need to spend time at the cottage to visit your dream. But I could be wrong.”

“So I’m going to be all alone again.”

“Armie —”

“Don’t call me that!” Armitage snapped before storming off into the cottage. Kylo didn’t hesitate to follow him. He couldn’t leave if Armitage was angry. 

Armitage was in his room and Kylo stood in the doorway for a moment, wondering if he should let him have a little time to himself. But he had no idea when he’d wake up and he needed to talk to him. Armitage had to understand that it was for the best.

“I don’t want to go,” Kylo said as he sat down next to him on the bed. “If I could stay, I would. But then you’ll never wake up and we can only see each other here.”

“Is that really so bad?” Armitage asked, looking up at him. His eyes were wet with tears and Kylo wanted to hug him and promise that he wouldn’t leave. Instead, he reached out and took his hand.

“It’s not,” he said. “But if I don’t wake you up, this won’t last forever. You haven’t aged at all. I will. I don’t want to grow old without you.”

“I don’t want to be alone,” Armitage said. “I hate it. You're the only good thing that’s happened to me here.”

“I won’t be gone forever,” Kylo promised. “Even if I don’t find the answers, I’ll come back.”

Armitage didn’t say anything and Kylo assumed he was still upset. But he left his hand in Kylo’s so maybe he wasn’t that angry. Kylo had hoped that they’d be able to spend one last day together, walking around and talking like they usually did, but he couldn’t blame Armitage for not wanting to do anything. Kylo was happy even if they just sat in silence — the only thing he cared about was that he was with Armitage. 

Suddenly, Armitage moved and before Kylo knew what was happening, Armitage was in his lap and had his lips on Kylo’s. For a few moments, Kylo held still, processing what was happening. Only when he realized that Armitage was kissing him did he move, wrapping his arms around Armitage and laying back, pulling Armitage down on top of him.

“Armie,” Kylo said softly when he finally pulled away. Armitage was still on top of him, face so close that Kylo could feel his breath. 

“I didn’t know if you felt the same,” Armitage said. “But it might be a while before I see you again. I had to kiss you at least once.”

“I’d have kissed you every day if I’d known,” Kylo said, smiling. He’d loved Armitage from the moment he first laid eyes on him, but he’d also enjoyed their friendship and he’d been too worried about ruining it. 

“Guess we’ll have to make up for that now.”

They spoke very little for the rest of the day, the only words between them to check on each other and make sure they weren’t doing something the other didn’t like. Kylo had never been happier in his life than when he was holding, kissing, and touching Armitage. 

When he woke, he was still next to Armitage, but it just wasn’t the same. He needed Armitage to be able to move and touch him as well. As Kylo ran a hand over his lips — just as soft as they were in the dream — he thought about kissing him. He didn’t think Armitage would mind given how much they had kissed in the dream, but it didn’t seem quite right. He wanted Armitage to be awake when they kissed.

“I love you,” Kylo said, stroking the side of his face and running his hand through his hair. He had no idea when he’d be able to touch him again. 

It was hard, but Kylo finally managed to pull himself away from Armitage’s side and left the cottage. On his way out, he stopped and picked several of the flowers growing on the vines. He wanted some reminder of Armitage as he returned to Arkanis.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been nearly a week since Kylo had been back in Arkanis and he still hadn’t found what he was looking for. He knew he shouldn’t expect to find anything in the first book he looked through, but he would have thought that he’d have learned something. Kylo felt like he had gone through every scroll and book about curses.

When the obvious texts didn’t have the answers Kylo was looking for, he dove into the more obscure texts.He’d started to read up on the history of Arkanis, hoping someone might have written something about the curse and he’d even started reading about plants, thinking that the flowers that had started to grow on the vines might tell him something.

He thought he’d identified the flowers at least — aegis roses. That information was not helpful, as he only learned they were extremely rare and only grew at sites that contained powerful magic. Kylo looked at one of the roses that he’d picked before leaving — it didn’t seem special, although it hadn’t started to fade at all. Perhaps that was what was so unusual about it. 

Kylo heard the door of the library opening and he quickly put the rose back in the pouch on his belt. He didn’t think Snoke would care that he’d brought flowers to study, but he felt like he needed to keep everything related to Armitage away from Snoke. 

“What are you doing in here?” Snoke asked as he wandered over to the table Kylo was sitting at. “Shouldn’t you be training with the Knights?”

“I’m doing research,” Kylo said, turning his attention back to an ancient book on curses. He’d already looked through it and knew it had nothing that would help Armitage, but he hoped that if he looked busy, Snoke might just leave him alone and not ask too many questions.

“They say you’ve been locked up in here since you returned,” Snoke said as he picked up one of the scrolls Kylo had on the table. “I would expect that you’d be practicing your skills. How else will you complete your assignment?”

“I’ve learned all I can with the Knights,” Kylo muttered. The Knights of Ren were formidable warriors, but Kylo had already defeated them in battle countless times. The only thing they were good for was more practice, but Kylo didn’t care about that. 

“Perhaps I should release more of their power,” Snoke said as he picked up a book. “If you’re wasting your time reading about Arkanian history, I think you might need more of a challenge.”

“What do you mean?” Kylo asked, looking at Snoke for the first time. He wanted to look more into the curse keeping Armitage asleep, but he couldn’t help but be curious about Snoke’s cryptic words.

“The Knights have been useful tools only because I keep their power contained,” Snoke said, gesturing to black stone on top of his staff. “Without someone to control them, they are too chaotic, so I’ve sealed their powers away. But I could release some more if you need better opponents.”

Kylo wanted to know just what the Knights were capable of, especially since Snoke sent them out together frequently. He almost told Snoke that he would go and spar with them, but he needed to focus. Kylo shook his head and turned his attention back to the book. “I need to finish this,” he said.

“Why do you need to know about curses?” Snoke demanded as he reached for the book. Kylo laid his arm across it, preventing Snoke from taking it. 

“You’re the one who sent me to deal with a cursed man,” Kylo reminded him.

“I sent you to kill him, not learn about his curse.”

“He’s being protected. Learning about the curse might help.”

“It won’t,” Snoke insisted.

“How can you be so sure? You haven’t managed to kill him in a hundred years.” Kylo pulled on the book and Snoke let go of it, but Kylo had the feeling that it was not going to be so easy to get Snoke to leave him alone to research the curse.

“You are but a fledgling wizard,” Snoke said. “It would be wise for you to yield to my superior knowledge.”

In the past, Kylo had almost always listened to Snoke. The few times he ignored Snoke’s advice, things had not gone so well for him, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling that Snoke was trying to keep something from him this time.

“Tell me about the curse,” Kylo said. “And then I can focus on other things.”

“Knowledge of the curse will not help you. It’s the spell surrounding him that protects him and you need strength to get through.”

“I want to know anyway.” Kylo stared at Snoke, wondering if being stubborn would be enough to get what he wanted. He thought Snoke might leave, and Kylo would be stuck looking for answers in the books. But as long as he had a chance to find what he needed, Kylo wouldn’t complain.

“What exactly do you want to know?”

“How did he end up cursed?” Kylo asked.

“I told you this before. He did it to himself in order to keep himself from dying.”

Kylo knew that was a lie — Armitage hadn’t even known that he was asleep. “Yes, but was it done with a potion of some kind? Or did he use something else?”

“Does it matter?”

“I’ve never seen magic like that before. I want to know everything.”

“I suppose I should be grateful my apprentice wants to learn,” Snoke said. “It was a spell. He stole my staff in order to put himself under the sleeping curse.”

“And the rest of the magic?”

“To be honest, I have never figured out how he managed to do that. I imagine he did it while he put the curse on himself. Quite possibly, it’s a manifestation of his hatred and spite, which would explain why it takes such strong magic to break through.”

“Is the protection spell connected to the curse then?” Kylo asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“But you don’t know.” Kylo thought about it for a moment. He could see a way he might be able to get what he needed from Snoke, but he knew he had to be careful. He couldn’t let Snoke know what his real plan was. “I think I have a plan.”

“Oh, you do? Well, please do enlighten me.”

Kylo knew that Snoke was already unhappy but he thought his plan made sense. “I want to break the curse,” he started to explain.

“You stupid boy!” Snoke snapped. Kylo didn’t even flinch at the outburst. It wasn’t the first time Snoke had shouted at him. “You’re supposed to kill him! Not try to break the curse!”

“I think breaking the curse will make it possible to kill him,” Kylo argued. “If the protection spell is connected, then it’ll fade when the curse breaks. And he’s been asleep for a hundred years. He’ll probably be weak and confused, meaning it’ll be easy to kill him.”

“And if the protection spell doesn’t fade? Then what will stop him from killing you instead?”

“Why would he do that? He doesn’t know who I am. I’ll say I saved him from the curse.”

“A curse he willingly put himself under. I don’t think he’ll be too happy with you for breaking it.”

“I’ll survive,” Kylo said. “If he attacks me, I think I can manage to defeat him. And he’ll want to put himself under the curse again, right? Won’t he try to steal your staff again? So even if he does kill me, he’ll come to you and then you can kill him.”

Snoke was silent for several moments and Kylo thought that his argument might work and Snoke would tell him how to break the curse. In one swift movement, Snoke rose to his feet and headed towards the door.

“It won’t work,” Snoke said. “He needs to die without ever waking up.”

“Why?”

“Don’t question me!” Snoke turned back towards Kylo and pointed his staff at him. Before Kylo could even attempt to raise his defenses, lightning shot from the end of the staff, but it never hit Kylo.

For a brief moment, Kylo was surrounded by brilliant blue light, but it never touched him. Without using his own magic, he was protected from Snoke. He remembered what he read about the aegis roses and put his hand over the pouch they were in. Were they responsible for the shield?

“You have betrayed me!” Snoke shouted. As the light faded, Kylo noticed that Snoke had closed the distance between them and he hit him with his staff, the blow knocking Kylo to the ground. Apparently, the aegis roses only protected against magic.

“What are you talking about?” Kylo asked. It must have been one of Snoke’s moods. It wasn’t usual for him to fly off into a rage, but Kylo had witnessed it before. 

“I’ve seen you! You’re planning on waking the bastard up and betraying me!”

That meant it was not one of Snoke’s normal rages and Kylo realized he’d walked into a trap. Snoke must have known all along that Kylo had decided against killing Armitage, although Kylo didn’t see it as a betrayal. Just because he couldn’t kill Armitage didn’t mean he didn’t want to remain Snoke’s apprentice, although that was clearly not an option any longer.

Kylo got up only to be knocked down again. He unsheathed his sword, ready to fight back, but he soon found himself floating in the air. When he looked at Snoke’s staff, he could see that it was glowing with a faint red light.

“I may not be able to kill you at the moment,” Snoke said, “but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing I can do.”

Kylo found himself flying through the air when he heard a loud crash. He was already outside and falling to the ground when he realized he’d broken through a window. The library was not high up, but Kylo landed on his arm and felt pain shooting up it. He was fairly certain it was broken. He could still fight, having trained to wield his sword in either hand, but he knew it put him at a disadvantage.

When Kylo looked up, he saw Snoke standing in the broken window, looking down at him, but not making any move to attack. Kylo kept his attention focused on Snoke, waiting for him to do something, but the sound of footsteps behind him alerted him as to where the real threat was.

The six Knights of Ren were approaching behind him, spreading out and blocking him in against the castle. There was no way for Kylo to escape except for going through them. That, he could do. Even injured, Kylo knew he could defeat the Knights.

He raised his sword and swung it down on the nearest of the Knights. Normally, he could have Ap’lek on the ground in seconds, but the Knight kept walking forward, and then, Kylo felt another Knight hit him. He used magic to block them while he continued to fight Ap’lek. Finding him to be much stronger than usual, Kylo pushed him away using magic and turned his attention to Ushar.

Just like Ap’lek, Ushar was stronger than Kylo had ever known him to be. Remembering what Snoke had said about restricting the Knights power, Kylo realized he could be in trouble — he’d apparently never fought the Knights at full strength. He was knocked to the ground and he thought that might have been it, but then he felt the Knight on top of him freeze.

For a brief moment, he locked eyes with Vicrul and Kylo realized that Vicrul wasn’t about to kill him. Then, Vicrul was on his feet, facing the rest of the Knights and blocking their attacks. Kylo didn’t know what had just happened, but as he got back to his feet, Vicrul threw Kuruk at him.

“What —”

“You have something on you!” Vicrul shouted, blocking an attack from Cardo. “We need it!”

Kylo wasn’t sure what Vicrul was talking about, but suddenly, Kuruk was fighting by his side, helping defend against the others. He had a brief moment to think and that’s when Kylo realized that the aegis roses were doing something to the Knights. He reached into the pouch and pulled one out and when Trudgen came at him, he touched the flower to him. 

The flower faded a little, and when Kylo put it on Cardo, the flower withered and then crumbled to dust. Kylo didn’t hesitate to take out another flower, using it to stop Ushar and Ap’lek. Soon, all six of the Knights were standing around him, looking ready for another fight. Kylo glanced back up at the library window, but Snoke was gone.

“We need to leave,” Kuruk said.

Kylo didn’t have the answers he needed, but he knew Kuruk was right. If he stayed, Snoke would kill him. He put his hand in the pouch and felt that there was only one more rose left, and he had no idea if it would still work to protect him, as it seemed to use up their magic to turn the Knights against Snoke.

Together with the Knights of Ren, Kylo made it to the stables and they got to their horses. Trudgen and Cardo helped him saddle Grimtaash, and they were on their way. It wouldn’t be easy to ride with one hand, but there was no choice. He needed to get away from Snoke. Kylo didn’t even have to think about where he was going — there was only one place he wanted to be. 

Even if he’d failed to find what he needed to wake Armitage up, Kylo wanted to be with him. He could only hope that the magic protecting Armitage might protect him as well, because he knew Snoke would never stop coming after him. 

“Where are we going?”

Kylo looked over and saw Ushar riding beside him. He’d heard them riding behind him, but he hadn’t actually thought about the fact that the Knights were with him. They were following him. And he couldn’t help but think they would eventually turn back to Snoke.

“ _We’re_ not going anywhere,” Kylo said. “You can go wherever you want.”

“We’re staying with you,” Ushar said. “We owe you a debt we can never repay.”

Kylo brought Grimtaash to a halt and turned to look at the Knights. He expected some to argue with Ushar’s declaration, but they were all watching Kylo, waiting. “What do you mean?”

“We were Snoke’s captives,” Cardo said.

“Enslaved by magic,” Kuruk added. “You freed us.”

“Not intentionally,” Kylo said. “I didn’t even know you were captives. You don’t owe me anything.”

“You’re still the one who freed us,” Ushar said. “We do owe you.”

“The Knights of Ren are now yours,” Trudgen said.

Kylo shook his head. He didn’t want them. The only thing he wanted was to get back to Armitage and spend the rest of his life with him. Even if they could only be together in dreams, Kylo knew he was meant to be with him.

“You’re free,” Kylo said. “You can do whatever you want. You don’t have to follow me.”

“We want to,” Ushar said and the others quickly agreed. “We are doing this of our own free will. And we will go with you whether you like it or not.”

Kylo sighed. As much as he wanted to go on his own, he wasn’t about to waste anymore time arguing with them about it. If they were truly free of Snoke’s influence, it didn’t matter if they came with him. They could even be useful. Kylo imagined a life at the cottage. He’d spend his days with Armitage and the Knights could help take care of the farm and get supplies when they needed to. The Knights likely wouldn’t stay long — that sort of life would be too dull for them, but it was exactly what Kylo wanted.

Still, he’d let them find out just how unexciting Kylo’s destination was on their own. He had the feeling they’d still insist on accompanying him at the moment. Maybe their presence would be enough to keep Snoke away for a while. Kylo put his hand over his pouch with the last of the aegis roses. He had no idea if that single flower could do much against Snoke, but it would hopefully last until Kylo made it back to the cottage.

As they rode, Kylo learned more about the Knights. They had never been a talkative bunch, but Kylo quickly realized that had been a result of the spell Snoke had trapped them with. Not only had Snoke kept their full power suppressed, he’d kept their minds partially locked away, in a state that Vicrul described as almost dream-like.

That made Kylo think of Armitage. He was locked in a dream as well, and if the aegis rose had been able to break the spell keeping the Knights locked away, Kylo thought they might help Armitage as well. He quickly dismissed the idea. The roses were all around Armitage — if they could have helped him, they already would have. And Armitage was under a curse, not a spell. If Kylo had learned anything in his week of research, it was the difference between the two. 

Breaking a spell was easy — it was a matter of power. To break the Knights free, Kylo had only needed magic stronger than the spell itself. But a curse could only be broken with very specific conditions. And Kylo still hadn’t learned how to figure out what those conditions were. For some reason, Snoke had plenty of texts on curses, but nothing about breaking them.

Although the Knights didn’t seem to have any knowledge that might help him wake Armitage, Kylo at least had stories to listen to on the journey back to Takodana. Snoke had told Kylo very little about the Knights, and he was interested to learn where they had really come from. They had all at one time been apprentices of Snoke, a group of men gathered by another. Snoke had promised to train them in using their magic abilities

In the end, Snoke had instead enslaved them, using them as tools rather than apprentices. Only their former leader had been spared and that had only been because he had left after an argument with Snoke. Kylo knew how that had ended — his first assignment from Snoke had been to find him and kill him. After he’d succeeded, Snoke had given him the name Ren.

At least the Knights already knew that Kylo had killed their former leader and weren’t too upset over it. According to them, the old Ren would have preferred death to being made into Snoke’s puppet and would have been pleased that Kylo had eventually freed all of the Knights. They didn’t need to tell him that he still needed to kill Snoke before they could truly be free. Although that had never exactly been Kylo’s goal, he knew he had no choice.

***

Before Kylo, Armitage hadn’t realized how lonely he was. Now, the only thing he could think of was the next time he would see Kylo. Having no idea how long Kylo had been gone made it worse.

The sun had set shortly after the last time he saw Kylo, and it had not risen again. But Armitage knew that meant nothing about how much time had really passed. When Kylo had been visiting him, sometimes it felt like hours between his visits and other times, days. 

He really hadn’t minded being alone before. He’d missed his moms, but he’d been fine. But with Kylo gone, Armitage felt like he was missing part of himself. Even the dream started to feel colder, which made it harder for Amitage to sit outside while he waited for Kylo’s return.

Still, he wanted to see him the instant he arrived, so Armitage wrapped himself in a blanket and waited outside. He’d keep waiting until Kylo returned.

He believed that Kylo would return, but he still couldn’t help the tears that fell as he sat outside the cottage, with nothing to do besides wait.

***

It didn’t seem to take nearly as long to get to Takodana with the Knights, and in less than a week, Kylo found himself back at the cottage. As soon as it was within sight, he sent Grimtaash into a run, going ahead of the Knights. He jumped off the horse’s back, careful about not injuring his arm any more than it already was.

He could hear the Knights calling after him, but there was only one thing on Kylo’s mind. The thorns parted for him, just as they had ever since his second visit and he ran to Armitage’s room. Armitage was right where Kylo had left him, and Kylo immediately went to his side, laying down next to him and putting an arm over him.

“I’m sorry,” Kylo said. “I haven’t figured out how to wake you up yet. I don’t know if I can.”

He felt tears starting to well up in his eyes but Kylo told himself he wasn’t going to cry. It wouldn’t change anything and he knew the Knights could walk in on him at any second. He didn’t want them to know how much Armitage meant to him. Kylo told himself that there was still a chance he could break the curse. He could go to Maz’s castle or even back to Alderaan. He’d do whatever it took to wake Armitage up.

Just as he settled in next to Armitage, he heard angry shouts from outside and he could make out the voices of the Knights. Worried that Snoke might be attacking them, Kylo got up and headed back outside, drawing his sword as he went.

When he walked out the door, he found the Knights engaged in combat, but not with Snoke. Instead they were fighting against the vines on the cottage and losing. Kylo put his sword back away, seeing that there was no threat.

“How are you able to stand there?” Vicrul asked as he took a swing at a vine coming at him.

“I don’t know,” Kylo said. “Maybe stop fighting?”

The Knights seemed reluctant to do so, but eventually, they all stopped fighting the vines. Once they stopped, the plants calmed down, but Kylo had the feeling they would attack again if the Knights tried to approach. He’d never figured out why he was allowed to walk through. He hadn’t even thought much about it after that second day when the vines had parted for him.

“Maybe if you’re with me,” Kylo suggested. He grabbed a hold of Cardo, who was the closest to him and headed back inside. The vines were slow to move, but they did. When Kylo looked back, he could see them closing near Cardo. They weren’t touching him, but they were much closer than they ever were to Kylo.

“I don’t think they like you,” Kylo said.

“Obviously,” Cardo said, eyeing the vines. Kylo let go of him and almost as soon as he did, the vines moved towards Cardo. Immediately, Kylo blocked the attack with his own body, which was enough to get the vines to back off or they stopped because Kylo was touching Cardo again.

Kylo kept his hand on Cardo until they were safely outside. He hadn’t really thought too much about what would happen once they got to the cottage, but he’d thought the Knights would stay in the cottage with him. That obviously wasn’t going to be an option, but Kylo had no intention of going anywhere else. He hated to lose the Knights right when he’d started to like having them around, but he’d much rather be with Armitage.

“I’m staying here,” Kylo announced to the Knights. “I don’t know how to control the vines, so you can’t stay in the cottage. I guess that means you can leave now.”

“Don’t count on it,” Ap’lek said.

“We said we’re going to stay,” Ushar said. “This doesn’t change things.”

All of the Knights agreed and Kylo was glad that they wanted to stay. He still wasn’t certain they would forever, as they would probably crave more excitement than what the cottage could provide, but it would be nice to have friends while he was awake.

“We’ll build a shelter,” Cardo said. “For us and the horses. We can sleep outside until it’s done.”

“Are you sure? Parshall’s not far away. You’d probably be more comfortable there.”

“Kylo,” Ushar said, “we’re comfortable anywhere that’s not with Snoke.”

There was no arguing with that, and Kylo quickly started talking about their plans for building a place for them to live, as well as fixing up the farm. The entire time, Kylo kept thinking about Snoke and when he’d come after them and what they were going to do, but the Knights were excited about their new project and Kylo didn’t want to ruin that. It wasn’t until they were giving each other jobs to do that Kylo spoke up.

“One of you should go to Maz Kanata’s castle,” Kylo said. “She might be able to help us deal with Snoke.”

The Knights were silent for a few moments. Finally, there was a quiet murmur of agreement and after a quick discussion, Kuruk decided he would go. They talked about how they would deal with Snoke, but no one was very hopeful about it.

“There’s a lot of those flowers here,” Ap’lek noted, looking at the cottage. “Those are the same ones you used to break the spell, right?”

Kylo hadn’t noticed at first, but there were definitely a lot more roses growing on the vines than there had been when he left. The four he’d brought with him had been enough to break the spell on the Knights and shield him from Snoke’s attack. Kylo knew he’d probably be safe enough in the cottage, but he didn’t know if picking the roses would be enough to protect the others.

“We can use those,” Kylo said, nodding. “They’re growing a lot faster now.”

“That makes sense,” Ap’lek said. “You can feel the magic around this place.”

“But the flowers can’t kill him,” Ushar said. “Nothing can.”

“Except the heirs of Arkanis and Alderaan,” Vicrul said with a sigh. “As if that meant anything.”

“What?” Kylo was certain he’d heard wrong. He must have, because if he’d heard right, he already had what he needed to defeat Snoke.

“Some prophecy,” Vicrul said, giving a small shrug. “I heard him talking about it a few times. But apparently, the only people who can kill him are from Arkanis and Alderaan, but he’s already destroyed Arkanis.”

“I heard him say he’s destroyed the Alderaanian royal family too,” Cardo added. “So I don’t think that can help us.”

Kylo had no idea what to say, but everything seemed to make sense. No wonder Snoke had spent so much time convincing him to be his apprentice. It had nothing to do with Kylo’s strength. He wasn’t special. He was just the one person that could defeat Snoke, so the wizard wanted to control him. And that was why he was so insistent on killing Armitage. No wonder he’d been so angry at the idea of waking Armitage up.

That at least told Kylo that waking Armitage was even more important than he had previously imagined, but he still had no idea how to do it. 

“Kylo?”

He looked at the Knights and saw they were all staring at him, and that’s when Kylo realized he’d been lost in thought. He opened his mouth to speak, but he had no idea what to say. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Trudgen asked.

There was a hand on his shoulder and Kylo finally moved, taking a step back from the Knights. He didn’t want to get their hopes up, because even if he could wake Armitage, Kylo still didn’t know how to defeat Snoke. 

“There’s something I need to do,” he said. “Inside the cottage. It might help us with Snoke.”

Kylo didn’t offer any more explanation and went back inside the cottage and right back to Armitage’s side. He laid down next to him and held him, wishing he could fall asleep immediately so he could talk to him. With all the excitement, he knew it might be a while before he could fall asleep, but at least now he was next to Armitage again. And hopefully, there would be no more interruptions from the Knights.

“I’m going to figure it out,” Kylo promised, propping himself up on his elbow so he could see Armitage better. He brought a hand up to touch his hair, gently running his fingers through it. Armitage was so beautiful and Kylo wanted nothing more than to be with him forever. And he would be. Even if it was only in dreams, Kylo was going to be with him.

Kylo’s hand moved from his hair to the side of his face and soon, his thumb brushed over Armitage’s lips. It had been so long since he had kissed those lips and Kylo wasn’t sure he could wait until he fell asleep. He knew Armitage didn’t mind him holding him, but would he be okay if Kylo kissed him?

They’d done plenty of kissing in their dreams, so Kylo didn’t see why it would be a problem. He decided he’d ask Armitage once he fell asleep. But he was still wide awake and he really didn’t want to wait. It wouldn’t hurt anything to give him one kiss, and it wasn’t like Armitage would ever know.

Kylo leaned over Armitage, unable to think of anything besides his lips. He ran his fingers over them and he tried to tell himself that this kiss would be no different, but he pulled himself away and laid down next to him, closing his eyes. If he couldn’t see Armitage, maybe the temptation would go away.

Even with his eyes closed, Kylo could think of nothing else. He’d been away from Armitage for far too long and he just needed one quick kiss. That would be enough to hold him over until he fell asleep. 

He sat up and looked down at Armitage. He would never know that Kylo had kissed him, and really it wasn’t that different from touching him with his fingers. And they kissed all the time in the dream. It wasn’t that big of a deal if Kylo gave him one kiss. 

Kylo put a hand on the side of Armitage’s face and then leaned down, gently pressing his lips to Armitage’s. It wasn’t really that different than in the dream, except that Armitage didn’t move. Still, Kylo couldn’t bring himself to pull away.

At least, not until he felt Armitage’s hand on his chest. A hand that shouldn’t have been able to move.

Kylo pulled away and when he did, he found himself looking into Armitage’s green eyes. 

“Armie?” Kylo asked, whispering. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Had he fallen asleep and made it into the dream without realizing it? He’d never appeared inside the cottage before, and he’d been so certain he was still awake.

“Kylo,” Armitage said, smiling. “You did it.”

Then, Armitage put his arms around Kylo and kissed him again.


	6. Chapter 6

Armitage didn’t want to let go of Kylo. He wasn’t sure he could.

One moment, he’d been sitting alone outside of the cottage, just waiting for Kylo to return. The next thing he knew, he was in his bed and Kylo was there, kissing him. It took Armitage a moment to realize what was happening and then he felt like he could truly touch Kylo for the first time.

Armitage wanted to keep touching him and kissing him and never do anything else. It really wasn’t all that different than in the dream, but he was finally awake and Armitage didn’t want to think about how much time had passed or how different everything would be. If he stayed where he was with Kylo, at least he was somewhere familiar.

“Armie.” Kylo was the one who pulled away. Armitage tried to pull him back, but he saw that the other man didn’t look happy. As Kylo sat up, Armitage did as well. For the first time, he noticed Kylo was holding on to a flower, twirling the stem between his fingers.

He thought that things were going to be perfect between them. The entire time he was alone, he’d only thought of Kylo and what he’d do when he returned. Armitage hadn’t put too much thought into Kylo actually waking him, but he liked to imagine that they’d go all kinds of places together. It seemed like that wasn’t what Kylo wanted.

Armitage had no idea how long Kylo had been gone. It could have been days or it could have been years. Maybe Kylo no longer loved him and had just come back to fulfill his promise. Armitage hated to think that he’d found someone else and that he would be leaving, but he couldn’t blame him. He couldn’t have expected Kylo to stay with him, especially if it had taken him a long time to break the curse.

“How long has it been?” Armitage asked, looking at the rose, avoiding making eye contact with Kylo. It might be easier that way.

“How long? Since you’ve been asleep?”

“No. How long have you been gone?”

“Three weeks.”

Armitage looked up at him, shocked. He couldn't believe that Kylo had figured out how to break the curse, and subsequently decided that he didn’t want to be with Armitage, all in three weeks. But clearly, something had changed in the other man’s demeanor — shouldn’t Kylo be happy now? 

“I’m so sorry,” Kylo said, tears in his eyes. “I didn’t know you were going to wake up. I just wanted to kiss you, but I think I made a mistake.”

“You don’t have to stay with me,” Armitage said, feeling his heart breaking. He had nothing else in the world, and for Kylo to leave him was the most painful thing he could think of. Still, Armitage wasn’t going to try to make him stay if he didn’t want to.

“Of course I want to stay with you! I love you, Armitage!”

“Then what —”

“Snoke couldn’t hurt you while you were asleep. But he might be able to, now that you’re awake. He’s coming for us.”

“For us? Why would he care about me?” Armitage had never met Snoke or even heard of him before now. He couldn’t imagine why a wizard would want to harm him.

“Apparently, we’re the only ones who can defeat him,” Kylo said, launching into an explanation about why he thought such a thing. Not that any of it made sense to Armitage. 

“Kylo,” Armitage said, slowly reaching out to Kylo and then eventually deciding it was safe to take his hand. “Why would that be about us? It sounds like it’s about royalty. Heirs of Arkanis and Alderaan? We’re not heirs of anything.”

Kylo was silent for a moment, and Armitage was starting to think he wouldn’t ever say anything else about it. 

“My parents are the queen and king of Alderaan,” he finally said. 

Armitage thought he’d misheard, but it made sense. Kylo had talked about his family before, and Armitage had often thought there were things he was leaving out. Now, Armitage could put it all together.

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean anything for me. I’ve never even been to Arkanis.” Even as he said that, Armitage couldn’t help but remember their first meeting when Kylo had asked if he was the prince of Arkanis. He’d nearly laughed at him then, but maybe he really believed it.

“You’re still the heir to the throne,” Kylo said. “I did some research on Arkanis history and the last king. In the last years of his life, he claimed he had a son named Armitage. He apparently spent the last of Arkanis’s wealth trying to find you.”

“It couldn’t be me,” Armitage said, shaking his head. He’d grown up in the small cottage with his mothers, never having left Takodana. He didn’t even know where Arkanis was. “Maybe Armitage was a common name.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kylo said. “I’ve never met another Armitage and there was only one that I saw recorded in the Arkanian records. Armitage Hux.”

Armitage remembered hearing the name Hux before. He’d been about ten and was supposed to be asleep, but instead, he stood just outside the door while his moms talked to Maz. He couldn’t remember the details, but both Anthea and Maratelle hadn’t liked the name. But that didn’t mean anything. 

“I saw a portrait of the old king,” Kylo said. “He does look a bit like you.”

Armitage wanted to argue because he knew that he couldn’t possibly be anyone important, but it didn’t matter. If Snoke thought Armitage was the heir, then Kylo was right about both of them being in danger. 

“What do we do?” Armitage asked.

“I don’t know. I have no idea how we’re supposed to fight him.”

“You figured out how to break the curse. We’ll figure this out.” Armitage smiled and tried to pull Kylo in for a kiss, but he stood up.

“I didn’t figure it out!” Kylo shouted. “It was an accident! I have no idea what I’m doing or how I’m supposed to keep you safe when Snoke finds us!”

Armitage walked over to Kylo and put his arms around him. He didn’t have the answers either, but he didn’t want Kylo to worry over it. Kylo almost immediately relaxed into his arms, and Armitage held him.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “I’m sure the two of us can think of something.”

Kylo pulled away from Armitage, but stayed within his arms. “There’s more than two of us,” he said. “I brought some others with me. They’ll help.”

“Others?”

“The Knights of Ren,” Kylo said as he stepped away from Armitage. As he did, he grabbed Armitage’s hand and started to pull him out of the room. “Snoke was holding them captive, but I freed them.”

As Kylo pulled Armitage through the cottage, the latter noticed, for the first time, all of the vines growing inside. They were in his room as well, it seemed, but he’d been so focused on Kylo he hadn’t actually noticed them until he was pulled out into the hallway. It seemed like the entire cottage was filled with vines and flowers, but as Kylo walked through, the vines parted.

“Are you controlling the vines?” Armitage asked.

“No,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “They’re part of a protection spell. They’re for you. They just let me in.”

“They’re protecting me?” Armitage asked, staring at the flowers as they walked past. He didn’t know what a bunch of flowers could do, but from the way they moved, they clearly weren’t regular flowers. 

Just as they made it to the door, one of the vines wrapped around Armitage’s wrist. He started to pull away, but he stopped. He wanted the vine to touch him but he had no idea why. Armitage pulled his hand away from Kylo and touched the nearest flower.

“Armie?”

“Sorry,” Armitage said, as he turned his attention back to Kylo. A gentle tug was all it took for the vine to release his arm, but Armitage was sad to see it go. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to let the vines wrap around him and stay like that. Ignoring that feeling, Armitage took Kylo’s hand and went outside with him, for the first time in nearly a hundred years.

Magic had prevented him from aging, but the same was not true for everything else. Armitage hardly recognized the place he’d grown up in. The cottage was completely covered in vines and flowers, which Armitage decided he liked. They were beautiful flowers — Armitage had never seen anything like them in his life.

The rest of the area was not in such good condition. The entire garden was overgrown and messy — Maratelle would have never let it get in such a state. Armitage couldn’t even tell where the rows of plants had been — the plants were growing just about everywhere now. He looked at the chicken coop and saw that it was pretty much gone, although he saw a few chickens walking around freely.

Looking at his old workshop, Armitage felt heartbroken. It was falling apart — the door was gone and the roof had collapsed in on itself. He hated to think of what had happened to his projects inside. He knew it wasn’t anything important, but he’d spent so much time working on building things and now it was all gone.

“Who’s this?”

The voice brought Armitage’s attention to the group of men that were standing near the edge of the garden. There were five of them, along with horses. Armitage had never seen so many horses at the cottage before. But Kylo had called them Knights, so it made sense that they would have horses. He remembered they’d had a horse once when he was young, but Maratelle had sold it in order to build the chicken coop.

“This is Armitage,” Kylo said. “He’s going to help us defeat Snoke.” Kylo quickly introduced five of the Knights of Ren, and mentioned a sixth Knight had left on a mission to Maz’s castle. Armitage wasn’t sure he would remember all their names, but hopefully he wouldn’t need to.

The Knights seemed just as unsure about Armitage joining the fight against Snoke, but they seemed a bit more convinced after Kylo gave them the same explanation as he’d given Armitage. 

“Can you use magic?” one of the Knights — Ap’lek? — asked. 

“No,” Armitage said, shaking his head.

“What about weapons?” another asked, and Armitage shook his head again.

“He’s not going to be much use,” another Knight grumbled.

“Here,” Cardo said, shoving a knife towards Armitage, which he reluctantly took. “You might as well have something you can use.”

“I can show you how to use it,” Kylo offered. 

Armitage didn’t know if he could learn how to fight — he’d gotten into a few scraps as a child but he wasn’t a very aggressive person. But he knew that Kylo needed him to do it, and for Kylo, he could do anything.

***

If it hadn’t been for the imminent danger of Snoke, the days with Armitage at the cottage would have been the best of Kylo’s life. He spent every single moment with Armitage, touching him, kissing him, and just watching him as he worked in the cottage. Together with the Knights, they’d managed to build a rudimentary shelter for the horses and were currently building one for the Knights to sleep in.

Kylo spent the nights with Armitage, curled up beside him in bed like he was used to. The only difference was now Armitage could move around and touch him as well. Kylo couldn’t get enough of it. He only wished he could do more to help Armitage relax when it came to sleeping — Kylo couldn’t blame him for wanting to stay awake, but he had to sleep at some point. And when Armitage woke up, he always seemed startled, like he’d just woken from a nightmare.

Kylo couldn’t visit Armitage in his dreams anymore, and since Armitage didn’t want to talk about it, Kylo didn’t know if he was actually having nightmares or if he was just surprised to be waking up again. All Kylo could do was pull him into a hug and hold him.

Although they had other things to do, Kylo held Armitage for as long as he wanted. He wouldn’t move until Armitage did. Having Armitage laying across his chest and rubbing his back felt so right, that Kylo could almost forget about the threat of Snoke. The only thing that was a constant reminder was the Knights’ shouting as they worked outside.

“We should get up,” Armitage mumbled, not even lifting his head from Kylo’s chest.

“If you want,” Kylo said, bringing his hand up to stroke Armitage’s hair. He was glad that Armitage didn’t move, as he wanted the moment to last. But as always, Armitage eventually got up, but not without giving Kylo a kiss first.

Kylo stood up once Armitage was off him and quickly got ready for the day. As they left the room, Kylo took Armitage’s hand. Cuddling all night just wasn’t enough for him and he wanted to touch him as much as he possibly could. Armitage seemed to feel the same, and they walked outside together to see what kind of chaos the Knights had caused that morning.

The shelter was a wreck — Kylo thought it looked worse than it had the night before. At least then it had had four walls that were standing up. Now it looked like one of those walls was about to collapse. 

“What happened?” Kylo asked.

“Vicrul decided to test the stability,” Cardo said.

“Good thing I did,” Vicrul said. “Otherwise it could have collapsed on us when we were in there.”

Kylo sighed. He really wasn’t surprised. The Knights were good in a fight, but when it came to building things, they were really out of their element. At least Armitage knew a little about building, as did Kylo. His thoughts drifted back to Ben’s father, who’d been a master carpenter before marrying the princess of Alderaan. Even though he hadn’t needed to, he’d still worked and taught Ben a few skills.

Glancing up at Armitage, Kylo knew they’d be spending the day fixing up the shelter for the Knights. Instead of letting them anywhere near the building, Kylo had them gather materials. At least that was something they could handle.

They didn’t talk much as they worked, but they didn’t need to. They’d already spent so much time together, and Kylo liked just being with Armitage and working with him. Every now and then, they were close enough their hands would brush together and Kylo would sneak a quick kiss.

They had just finished work and were sitting down to eat — one of the Knights had done some hunting — when an owl landed nearby. Kylo and all of the Knights froze, staring at the bird. They knew exactly what that meant.

“Kylo?” Armitage asked, pulling his attention from the owl.

“It’s Snoke,” Kylo said. “That’s his familiar.”

“What do we do?” 

“We need to get ready,” he said as he started to eat. Kylo knew they had a little time, but not much. The others ate quickly, and soon they were getting ready for battle. Kylo walked over to the cottage and picked several of the aegis roses — their entire plan relied on the roses being enough to protect them from Snoke.

Kylo passed the flowers out to the Knights, giving two to each of them. He didn’t know much about how they worked or if more flowers would offer more protection, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared. When he got to Armitage, Kylo gave him five roses. Armitage didn’t have any magical ability or fighting experience and would need the most protection.

“Remember,” Kylo said, “if these get damaged, run into the cottage. There’s enough magic there to protect you.”

“What about you?” Armitage asked.

“I’m going to kill Snoke,” Kylo said. “No matter what it takes.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Armitage said quietly, lightly touching his already injured arm. Ap’lek had attempted some healing magic on it and it seemed to be better, but it was still painful.

“I’ll try not to,” Kylo said with a smile, giving Armitage a kiss. He couldn’t bring himself to pull away completely, leaving his forehead pressed against Armitage’s. “But I’m going to do whatever I have to.”

Armitage wrapped his arms around Kylo’s waist and Kylo stood still, wanting that moment to last. He just wanted to be with Armitage and not worry about Snoke or anything else. And for just a few moments, Kylo was able to do just that. Nothing else existed — it was only him and Armitage. 

“There’ll be time for kissing if we survive!” Ushar called, just before putting a hand on each of their shoulders. Kylo moved away from Armitage, but only so he could shove Ushar away.

“He’s almost here,” Ap’lek said.

Kylo was about to ask how he knew that, but he could feel a chill in the air. Whenever Snoke was angry, it always seemed to get colder, but this was like nothing Kylo had felt before. Kylo hoped it was his imagination, otherwise, Snoke was beyond angry.

Storm clouds seemed to be rolling in and thunder crashed in the distance. Kylo couldn’t help but pull Armitage closer to him, although he knew he’d have to move once Snoke arrived. For as long as possible, he wanted to keep Armitage close and safe.

Kylo looked for any signs of Snoke’s arrival on the road to Parshall. He had no idea how Snoke travelled but he didn’t even realize he was looking in the wrong direction until Vicrul pointed towards the sky.

“There he is!” Vicrul shouted.

Kylo looked up, but didn’t see anything besides the storm clouds, and for a brief moment, he wondered if Snoke had somehow transformed himself into a cloud. There were a lot of things he didn’t know about magic, and for all he knew, it was possible. Then he saw what Vicrul was pointing at — a small black dot that was steadily growing bigger.

As the dot grew closer, Kylo could make out wings and a long tail, and soon, he could see golden scales, glowing in the lightning. It would have been beautiful if not for the fact that one look at the dragon’s face made it obvious that it was Snoke. The dragon had the same scars that Snoke did, and even if Kylo couldn’t feel that it was Snoke, seeing him made it very clear.

“Guess we know why he took so long to follow us,” Trudgen said.

“What?” Kylo asked, a bit confused. 

“That transformation takes time,” Cardo explained. “This also means he’ll be harder to kill.”

The dragon landed in front of them with a loud roar. Kylo moved so he was standing between Snoke and Armitage. Snoke’s attention was focused on the two of them, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Knights starting to move. They hadn’t counted on him being a dragon, but their plan could still work.

“I see you’ve woken the bastard,” Snoke said. “I should have let his father kill him when he was a baby. Not that it matters now.”

“We’re more than willing to walk away from this,” Kylo said. “You leave us alone and we won’t interfere with whatever you’re doing.”

“Stupid boy! You’ve already interfered enough!” Snoke’s tail crashed into the ground, nearly missing one of the Knights, but Kylo refused to look. He needed to keep Snoke’s attention on him.

“I never meant to,” Kylo said.

“Didn’t you? I sent you to kill the bastard and yet you decided that you would protect him instead!”

“You weren’t honest with me!” Kylo shot back. “You didn’t tell me why you wanted him dead! Or why you wanted me as your apprentice!”

“So you’ve learned of the prophecy.” Snoke took a step closer. “I can assure you that it will not be coming true.”

That was all the warning Kylo had before Snoke surged forward, striking at him with his claws. Kylo grabbed Armitage and pushed him out of the way before pulling his sword and facing Snoke, who was already making another attack.

The Knights weren’t quite in position, as they’d had more ground to cover and were moving slowly so as to not attract attention, but that no longer mattered. All five of them attacked, cutting and hitting Snoke with their weapons. Had he been in his usual form, it might have been enough, but the dragon’s scales were tough, and Kylo’s sword barely managed to cut through. 

As they attacked, Snoke fought back, swinging his tail and flapping his wings. It was enough to push the Knights back and make it impossible for them to get closer. Cardo launched an attack, shooting a flaming projectile from a slingshot, but it only bounced off of Snoke and drew his attention to Cardo. Snoke slammed a foot down and Kylo saw Cardo narrowly escape.

Wanting to pull Snoke’s attention away, Kylo made another attack, using magic to strengthen himself as he swung his sword at Snoke. He managed to cut through the scales, but he knew he hadn’t done any real damage. He also realized, as Snoke turned towards him, that he wouldn’t do much as long as he was targeting Snoke’s legs. He’d need to find a more vulnerable spot.

“At least I only need to kill one of you,” Snoke said, stepping past Kylo, moving towards Armitage. Realizing what his plan was, Kylo attacked him, throwing everything he had at Snoke, needing to protect Armitage.

“Run!” Kylo shouted to Armitage when he realized he wouldn’t be able to stop Snoke in time, but Armitage stood right where he was. Kylo didn’t even have enough time to get to Armitage to protect him. The only thing he could do was keep up his desperate attack on Snoke and hope it would be enough.

Just as Snoke reached Armitage, Snoke roared in pain and then, blue lightning was flying in all directions. It didn’t touch Kylo though, or Armitage. The aegis roses were doing their job. Kylo didn’t know what had provoked such an attack, but he took the opportunity to attack Snoke’s underside, driving his sword between his belly scales.

Snoke thrashed around and soon, there was a loud thump just behind Kylo. He turned and saw Kuruk lying on the ground. He hadn’t even known Kuruk was there — Kylo thought he was still at Maz’s castle. Turning his attention to Snoke, Kylo saw that he was bleeding. Whatever Kuruk had done, it had hurt Snoke. Unfortunately, there was no chance to ask him as he was lying unmoving on the ground and Snoke was once again on the attack.

Kylo jumped out of the way as Snoke’s claws came at him again, but he realized that Kuruk would be stepped on. Kylo used magic to push Kuruk to safety, but that slowed him down and Snoke’s foot hit him, knocking him to the ground.

Kylo got to his feet, realizing that his sword had been knocked away from him. He took a step towards it, but Snoke blocked Kylo and forced him back. Kylo could keep moving away, but without a weapon, there was nothing he could do against Snoke.

“Kylo!”

Hearing his name, Kylo quickly turned his attention to find that Trudgen had thrown his second blade — a short sword — to him. He caught it and quickly charged towards Snoke, hoping to get his own weapon back. Kylo slashed at Snoke, and he could see the other Knights were attacking as well and Kylo thought that just maybe, they could win.

Then Snoke’s wings spread and he was lifting into the air, the wind from his wings stinging Kylo’s eyes. A retreat wasn’t what Kylo wanted — as long as Snoke lived, he knew Armitage would be in danger. But Snoke didn’t go far, only moving away from the Knights and landing closer to the road.

With Snoke further away, Kylo could see just how much he was bleeding. They had definitely hurt him, but none of the injuries they inflicted were even close to being fatal. At least Snoke backing off gave them a chance to check on Kuruk. Ap’lek was crouched down next to him and Kuruk was moving a little, but he was still on the ground.

“Is he okay?” Kylo asked.

“He should be,” Ap’lek announced. “Assuming we survive this.”

That really was the uncertain thing, and Kylo wasn’t certain how they were going to defeat him. They could fight all day and still not make much progress. Getting through the scales to injure Snoke was nearly impossible. Fighting dragons was not a skill Kylo had ever learned.

They didn’t have much time to rest before Snoke was on the move again. He took off, keeping low to the ground and as Kylo raised his blade, he realized he should have taken the chance to grab his own sword. There was no time and Kylo would just have to make do with the shorter blade.

Snoke wasn’t coming for him or any of the Knights. Instead, he flew towards Armitage and Kylo ran to put himself in between them. Armitage stabbed at Snoke with his knife, which was at least enough to stop Snoke from biting him, but it didn’t take long before Snoke managed to grab the knife from Armitage.

Armitage backed away as Snoke prepared to deliver a killing blow, but Kylo got there, thrusting his blade inside of Snoke’s mouth. Snoke roared in pain and pulled back, blood dripping from his mouth. At least Kylo had finally found a delicate spot on him. 

“Get inside!” Kylo yelled to Armitage. He didn’t have time to make sure Armitage got to safety as he had to counter another attack from Snoke. He tried to stab inside of Snoke’s mouth again, and although he missed, he grabbed hold of one of the horns on Snoke’s head. Using his still injured arm hurt, but he knew he had to defeat Snoke, no matter the cost. 

He held on, even as Snoke lifted his head and tried to shake him off. Kylo swung his sword, aiming for Snoke’s eye. He didn’t know if he hit him or not as Snoke finally managed to shake him off, sending Kylo falling to the ground. Kylo tried to get up, but everything hurt, and he just wanted to lay there. 

Snoke came at him again and Kylo just barely managed to roll out of the way. He grabbed his sword, ready to do what he could to fight Snoke, but the next attack never came. Instead, Snoke roared in pain, flapping his wings and standing up on his hind legs. It was then that Kylo caught a hint of orange hair — Armitage was attacking Snoke, using Kylo’s sword.

As much as Kylo appreciated the assistance, he hated that Armitage wasn’t in the cottage where he’d be safe from Snoke. Kylo got back on his feet and moved to attack the dragon again, needing to kill him before Armitage was hurt. Standing on his hind legs left his underside exposed and Kylo slashed him across his stomach.

Snoke swung around, his tail knocking Kylo down, and at the same time, he saw Armitage slide off Snoke’s back, landing near the cottage.

“Armie!” Kylo called, getting up and hobbling over to him as quickly as possible. Armitage was starting to get up, but Kylo could tell he was hurt. Kylo knew he had to get him into the cottage, before he got hurt any more. 

As soon as he reached him, Kylo put an arm around Armitage. He knew this wasn’t the time for hugs, but Kylo needed to assure himself that he was going to be okay. Kylo soon started to pull Armitage inside the cottage, and a glance back at Snoke showed the Knights were trying to keep him busy.

“Look out!” Armitage warned, just as they reached the door of the cottage. Kylo turned and saw Snoke coming for them, but Kylo couldn’t get his weapon up to defend them. The only thing he could do was put his body in front of Armitage. 

But Kylo never felt claws or teeth on his back and when he turned around, he saw that the vines on the cottage were wrapped around Snoke. He struggled and every now and then, he broke one of the vines, but more and more were wrapping around him, holding him in place.

“He’s trapped,” Armitage said.

“Kill him!” One of the Knights shouted out. “While you have a chance!”

The vines continued to wrap around Snoke until he was nearly completely covered except for one area right over where Kylo imagined his heart was. Armitage handed him his sword and Kylo put his hand around the hilt, but did not take it from Armitage. He knew he could find the strength to do it on his own if he had to, but he wasn’t alone.

“Together,” Kylo said, and Armitage nodded. 

With both of their hands on the sword, they raised it and plunged it straight into Snoke’s heart. He thrashed around, but then, he went still and slowly, the vines started to pull back. Kylo kept the sword ready just in case, but when the last vine had left, Snoke remained on the ground motionless.

He was dead.

Kylo dropped the sword and wrapped both arms around Armitage. It hurt, but Kylo didn’t care. He needed to hold Armitage. It was only after Armitage returned the gesture that Kylo remembered that he wasn’t the only one who was hurt.

“Sorry,” he said, relaxing his grip. “You’re not hurt too bad, are you?”

“It’s fine,” Armitage said, smiling. “I think you got the worst of it.”

“It was all worth it,” Kylo said and he kissed Armitage. He didn’t care about their injuries or the dead dragon in front of them or anything else in the world — the only thing that mattered was that he could kiss Armitage. Kylo would have happily stood there just like that for hours, but he heard the sound of an approaching carriage.

“Who is it?” Armitage asked, looking towards the road. Soon, a carriage pulled by four large horses appeared and Kylo took his sword and stood in front of Armitage. He was exhausted, but he wasn’t about to let anyone harm Armitage. The Knights were slowly moving to join Kylo. They were all injured, but together, Kylo knew they could still put up a fight.

The carriage stopped next to Snoke’s dead body and Kylo raised his sword in anticipation. When a short, old woman slowly stepped out, Kylo recognized her, but kept his sword ready. He wasn’t sure how Maz Kanata would react to him.

“Lady Maz?” Armitage asked.

“Armitage!” Maz said with a smile, when she looked at Kylo, her smile faded. “And Ben Organa! Your parents have been worried about you! Although I see you managed to break the curse and kill Snoke. It seems like I’ve missed quite a bit.”

Kylo wasn’t sure what to do — he had always imagined that Luke had told his parents that he’d destroyed his school and assumed that any of their friends would think the worst of him. But Maz seemed to be acting like he had just run away.

“Let’s get you healed up,” Maz said. “I didn’t quite expect a Knight of Ren to show up on my doorstep, but when I learned the Knights had broken free of Snoke, I thought there might be a need for some healing potions.”

Maz walked around to each of the Knights, handing them small vials. Finally, she came to Kylo and Armitage, giving them vials as well. Armitage drank his potion without hesitation and Kylo followed. Almost as soon as he drank it, Kylo started to feel better.

“Now,” Maz said. “I think we have quite a lot to discuss.”

***

Armitage walked out of the cottage where he’d lived his entire life for what would be the last time for a very long while. He had no idea when he might return, although he knew he would someday. But after a hundred years of being there, it was time for a change of scenery.

Maz had told Armitage everything she knew about the curse put on him by his father, who had indeed been the King of Arkanis. She’d even made a gentle suggestion that he take the throne and rebuild the land that Snoke had devastated, but Armitage wasn’t interested in that. He just wanted to see all the places Kylo had told him about in his dreams.

It was hard to leave knowing the fate of his mothers. They had given their lives to protect him and part of them would always be at the cottage. Maz said that the aegis roses would likely be growing there for as long as Armitage lived, if not longer. It was the strength of Anthea and Maratelle’s love that had powered the magic for all those years. 

He wished he could have given them a proper goodbye, but he knew they had protected him for all those years and that they would be happy that they had saved him. At least Anthea and Maratelle would always be together, even if he was leaving.

“Good bye,” Armitage whispered as he ran his fingers along the petals of one of the roses. “I love you.”

Armitage got on his horse, a reddish mare he had named Millicent. In the weeks since they’d killed Snoke, he and Kylo had been very busy. One of the things Armitage had done was learn to ride a horse. The Knights of Ren decided to stay at the cottage to protect the powerful magic there. Armitage had taught them how to care for the chickens and keep the foxes away and how to plant the garden, just the way Maratelle had liked.

He knew the Knights would probably not do everything in the same way Anthea and Maratelle had, but he liked to think that at least some of their methods would continue. But the Knights had already made changes — they had gone ahead with the construction of a new cottage, wanting to leave the old cottage as it was. They had also cleared an area for their horses to wander, which also doubled as a place for the Knights to spar against each other.

After a quick farewell from the Knights, Armitage and Kylo were on their way. Although he’d been to Parshall before, Armitage was excited to go anywhere that wasn’t the cottage. And of course, they weren’t going to stop at Parshall. For the first time that Armitage could remember, he was going to leave Takodana. 

As much as he enjoyed travelling — and it was really spending time with Kylo that he enjoyed — Armitage was happy when their journey was finally near its end. It would be nice to have a place to stay for a while, although Armitage was a little nervous as well. Kylo had decided to return home to Alderaan, which meant Armitage was about to meet Kylo’s family.

As soon as Armitage got a good look at the castle, he felt like he shouldn’t be there. He’d spent his whole life in a cottage, tending a garden and fishing. He didn’t belong in a beautiful castle like the one they were heading to. His father might have been a king, but Armitage knew it was not his place to be with a prince.

“Hey,” Kylo said, reaching over and taking Armitage’s hand. “It’s going to be okay.”

“They’re going to hate me,” Armitage said.

“They won’t.” Kylo gave his hand a squeeze. “And if they do, then we won’t stay long.”

That made Armitage feel a little better — if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that Kylo loved him. Still, he couldn’t help that small amount of doubt that Kylo would side with his family if they absolutely hated him.

When they arrived, there were people waiting for them. Armitage looked at them, but none of them looked like they were royalty. Not that Armitage really knew what royalty would look like. Kylo was the only prince he knew, and he wasn’t wearing anything nicer than what Armitage had. 

Two people came to meet their horses and led them away once they dismounted, leaving Armitage to stare at the castle in front of him, and once again felt like he shouldn’t be there. But Kylo took his hand and started to lead him up the stairs.

They just about reached the doors when they opened and a woman in a blue dress walked out, followed by a tall man. The woman looked very much like what Armitage expected a queen would look like — her hair was styled and she wore gold jewelry to go with the dress. The man looked more like the people who had taken the horses away, wearing a simple shirt with a vest and pants.

“Hey kid,” the man said.

“Dad,” Kylo said softly and before anyone could say anything else, Kylo’s parents were wrapping their arms around him. Armitage let go of Kylo’s hand, letting him have his reunion with his parents. 

It wasn’t long before Kylo pulled away from his parents and grabbed Armitage’s hand again. Kylo pulled him close and put an arm around his waist and Armitage leaned up against Kylo. As much as he didn’t feel like he belonged at the castle, he knew he belonged with Kylo.

“Mom, dad, this is Armitage,” Kylo said.

“Maz has told us all about him,” Leia said, turning to him with a smile. “The lost prince of Arkanis.”

“I’m not a prince,” Armitage said.

“At least not because of his father,” Kylo said, kissing Armitage on the cheek. He could feel himself blushing. He knew one of the reasons they were going to Alderaan was to give Kylo’s parents their good news, but he hadn’t expected to do it so soon.

“Armitage and I are going to get married,” Kylo said, and Armitage couldn’t help but smile. They hadn’t told anyone of their plans yet and although he was nervous about how Kylo’s parents would react, Armitage was glad to finally let someone know. It made it seem more real.

“We’ll start plans immediately,” Leia said.

“No,” Kylo said. “We’re not going to do it anytime soon. We want to be together, but Armie’s been trapped in a curse for a hundred years. We’re going to travel around and in a few years, we thought we’d come back here and get married.”

“If that’s acceptable to you,” Armitage said. If not, they’d simply return to Takodana whenever they’d decided they’d seen enough of the world.

“Of course,” Leia said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“There’s another reason we came here,” Kylo said, and Armitage knew that he needed to speak. Kylo would have, but Armitage felt like it was his responsibility.

“Maz told us that a large group of Arkanians have settled in Alderaan,” he said. “I’d like to let them know that Snoke is dead and that they could return to Arkanis if they wanted.”

“Of course,” Leia said. “Rest for a few days and then we can send you down to their settlement in a carriage. I think they’ll be happy to know their prince has finally been found.”

“I’m not —”

“Yes, I know,” Leia said, smiling. “But they will likely see you as such. But let’s not worry about that for now. Let me show you around, as this castle is your home if you ever decide you want to settle here.”

Armitage smiled. Kylo had assured him that his parents would welcome him with open arms, but hearing Leia say those words finally put Armitage at ease. He knew he’d always have Kylo, but he liked knowing that he would have a larger family as well.

Before following Leia and Han inside, Armitage turned and kissed Kylo. He knew that one day, they would be married, but for now, he was excited about exploring the world, and he was ready to start with the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find the writer on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Battle_Walrus) and the artist on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ArsTyrannus) or [tumblr](https://arstyrannus.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the art on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ArsTyrannus/status/1336294161834717187) if you want to like or retweet it!


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